


My Hogwarts

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-26
Updated: 2010-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-19 23:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12420507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: A story that I was inspired to write after I came up with a master idea. NOTE: Most characters in this story belong to me.





	1. How We Met Them

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Okay so yeah, my first story on here, hope you enjoy... basically just some retarded story i've thought up to explain my MAIN IDEA which sadly won't come up until I've finished this... but anyway, you will find that there are two characters that are more from the real world ahehe -coughcough- basically meaning... me and my awsom friend, Kailee... this particular story is actually all in my point of view xD I'm so evil xDDD anyway yes, enjoy ^^**

**xx Spotty(Oh yeah, you'll find out about that later... ahehe OBSESSION!)**

** -Chapter One: How We Met Them- **

One could say it was coincidence, or an accident.

But Kailee and I took a more… Hopeful… Guess to it. Well I did at least; Kailee wasn't much into the mushy stuff.

What I said it was, was the long sought for word in the mythical land of love.

Destiny.

It was as simple as that. Couldn't have been anything else. It wasn't an accident both our families decided to move to England, and that the both of us happened to be witches. It certainly wasn't just coincidence that we were to be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

We were transferring from the Australian Institute of Magic and were to start at Hogwarts on the first of September 1977. We were rather excited about it actually. Well, more than excited. Ecstatic, euphoric and rapturous would be better words.

We honestly couldn't wait.

We both moved to the beautiful countryside in houses right next door to each other. By the time it was the 31st of August, we were unable to sleep, and sat sending messages to each other all night via my black feathered owl, Twilite, who was, I admit, rather crabby at me the next morning.

When my mum came in the next morning with my little sisters they ran and jumped on top of me yelling out "Time to get up El!" I groaned and glared at the mischievous 6 year olds. I'd get them back one day, but for now…

I needed sleep.

Why were they waking me anyway? And it must've been so early, too! Ugh and my stupid hair was probably a mess, the mop of dark brown and blonde that it was… I'd kill them later, after I got back from Hogwarts-

I shot up out of bed and ran into the bathroom, quickly having a shower before running out into the kitchen and take a bowl of porridge from my grinning mother (I returned this with a scowl. Why hadn't she woken me earlier it had to be at least 8 O'clock!) I looked up at the clock that hung on the wall and my mouth fell open.

It was 6 a.m.

In the morning.

And I'd already showered.

And had nearly finished my breakfast.

I turned and glared at Kady and Samara who giggled and ran off into their room.

I glared at mum and decided to abuse her for the earliness of my waking up. "Why did you let them do it? Do you WANT me to be like Tom?"

She glared at me and said, "I figured you should get up early considering we have to drive all the bloody way to London!"

I huffed and looked away, shoving a spoonful of porridge forcefully into my mouth. It was bad enough that I had to start school in the middle of the year, but waking me up at that un-godly hour? It was pure evil!

I put my bowl in the sink and stalked past mum to my room, wondering if Kailee had also been woken up in a similar fashion-I mean, we probably hadn't really even gotten to sleep until close to 3, so why make us suffer more?- And walked into my room, seriously thinking about slamming the door, but deciding against it at the last second.

I sighed and looked around my room. There were still a few boxes scattered around and clothes were thrown all over the place, mostly the floor –whenever mum told me to pick it up I answered with "Why bother? I have my own Floordrobe!" which of course, nearly resulted in having my queen-sized bed taken off me- and decidedly grabbed a few things, shoving them into my trunk without folding them.

I sighed again, anxiously moving my hands around randomly, like I always did when I was bored or nervous, before finally picking up the trunk handle and heaving it out of my room. I dumped it in the lounge room then went outside in search of Twilite's cage. I found it near the chook pen and frowned. How the hell had it ended up there?

I whistled lightly and the owl fluttered down to me from a nearby tree, landing on my shoulder and clicking her beak. I smiled and stroked her before heading back inside. I walked into the lounge room to find Samara leaning over the lounge while Kady rummaged through…

"OI!" I shouted and they darted away from my trunk, squealing happily. I glared after them but stumped over to my trunk, searching through and trying to figure out what they might have taken. I narrowed my eyes when I couldn't find my wand and quickly shut and locked my trunk.

I stormed down the hallway and opened their door with a loud BANG! And nearly exploded when I saw them waving my wand around, obviously trying to perform some magic of their own –which was rather hopeless really, there wasn't much chance that they'd be witches too…-. I ran forward and snatched my wand off them, glaring fiercely before saying in a soft and deadly voice "Touch it again, and you will BOTH be VERY sorry…" I tried to make them believe I wasn't joking by pointing it threateningly at them both.

I then swung round and stalked off. As soon as I closed the door I heard them collapse into fits of giggles. I rolled my eyes and walked back into the lounge room, unlocking my trunk with a flick of my wand before shoving it under half of my clothes and shutting it again. I was about to lock it when I paused. I quickly opened it again and grabbed my wand out, shoving it into my jacket pocket instead.

I looked up at the clock as I walked into the kitchen and sighed. 6:30. Would Kailee be up yet? 'Only one way to find out' I thought to myself before sneaking out the back door.

A few hours later had us standing between platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station. Me and Kailee were fidgeting nervously. We had no idea what we were supposed to do(The letters we'd gotten hadn't proved very helpful either), and both out owls hooted in annoyance as we continued to stand there looking confused. Our parents weren't really much of a help either, and the Twins and Mackenzie just sat and giggled, smirking at the pair of us.

"Ah, excuse me?"

Kailee and I both jumped at the voice and swung around. A girl with fiery red hair and bright green eyes who looked to be the same age as us was standing with her parents, with a trolley carrying a trunk and cage with an owl. I sighed in relief. Finally! Someone who could help!

The girl smiled sympathetically at us and said, "You don't know how to get through to the platform, do you?" We shook our heads and I said, "We just moved here so we honestly wouldn't have a clue." The girl nodded and Kailee added in an undertone "And this lot aren't really very helpful either!" The girl smiled and said "Muggle-born too?" We both nodded and she grinned before turning to her own parents and saying "Mum, dad, I'm gonna help these two get to the platform, okay? So you can go home if you like…" Her parents nodded before hugging and kissing her, and walking off.

I smiled gratefully at the girl before saying "We really appreciate this, seriously!" She nodded again before saying, don't worry, I was confused as hell when I first came, so don't worry! I'm Lily by the way, Lily Evans," She held out her hand to us and we each shook it.

"I'm Ellie, and this is Kailee." I said before turning to my mum and step-dad saying, "Do you all want to come onto the platform, because you don't have to…"

Kailee's mum shook her head before replying, "No, we drove all this way, we're coming with you!" My mum nodded in agreement and said "Andie's right, we didn't drive all this way to not see you off properly!" I sighed and smiled, nodding my head before turning back to Lily.

"Okay, so, how do we get into there exactly?" I asked.

"Well," Lily began "First you have to make sure there aren't any Muggles watching, and you have to just walk through that barrier there, you'll end up on the other side fine, I promise!" We nodded and I looked at mum and Wade saying, "We can go through first, okay?" They nodded and stared nervously at the barrier before going on either side of me. I started walking towards the barrier, and flinched, closing my eyes when we got to it, expecting a collision.

When I finally opened my eyes I gasped, staring in awe at the big red steam engine in front of us. Mum was also looking at it, her mouth gawping. I turned and saw Kailee come through with her mum and brother, and then Lily came through with the twins, who immediately said loudly "WOW! Mum look at that huge train!"

My mum simply nodded and I laughed. I looked around at the other people on the platform, wondering what the school would be like.

It was then that Lily came up in between me and Kailee and said "If you want I can go a get us a compartment, my friends should already have one, but I'll go tell them to save places for you two. We nodded at her gratefully before turning to our parents.

Kailee hugged her mum and I did the same, also hugging Wade and the twins before stepping back and saying "Do you think you can get back out okay?" They nodded and said, "We'll be fine, don't worry! Just go and get on the train! We'll see you at Christmas though, right?" I nodded immediately and said "Of course! It wouldn't be Christmas without me!" She smiled before hugging me again and shooing me towards the train. I smiled and waved, pushing the trolley forward, Kailee not far behind me.

When we reached one of the doors, a man waiting there smiled and lifted both of our trunks into the train for us. We thanked him and picked up the cages before setting off down the corridor, peering into the compartments and searching for Lily. We soon found her in a compartment with two other girls so we knocked on the compartment door and Lily stood up, smiling, before opening the door for us.

We walked inside and said "Okay, Ellie, Kailee, these are my friends Emmeline and Marlene. Em, Marles, these are the two girls I told you about, Ellie and Kailee." They both smiled at us and we smiled back, happy that we had at least found some people who were nice. We sat down and Marlene asked us "So where exactly are you two from? Lil said you'd transferred, but she wasn't sure where from…"

We exchanged grins before I said, "We went to the Institute of Magic, in Australia." They all grinned and said, "Wow cool! I always wanted to go to Australia!" I laughed and said, "It's alright I guess… We were really excited when we found out we were BOTH moving here, I mean, we've known each other since we first started at AIM, but we actually lived near each other anyway, which was good."

They all questioned us about what school was like in Australia, and how different the weather was but when Marlene asked if we'd ever had pet kangaroo's, me and Kailee looked at each other before cracking up. Lily frowned at us and said, "What's so funny about it, we were all wondering…" I gasped for breath before saying "I _knew_ someone was gonna ask us that! I KNEW IT!" I started laughing all over again and Emmeline frowned before saying "So… I'm guessing you don't, then?"

Me and Kailee shook our heads before Kailee said, "Only rescue people have pet kangaroo's! And even then, they don't KEEP them!" Marlene and Lily blushed and said "Oh…" I let out one last wheezy giggle before trying to compose myself, at which point the compartment door opened.

I looked up in surprise and saw four boys, obviously the same age as us, with odd smiles on their faces (I knew they were mischievous smiles because after spending 5 years chasing after the twins, they weren't hard to recognize). The tallest of the boys who had messy black hair and glasses grinned before saying "Well Evans, seems you got yourself some new friends, eh?" He looked enquiringly at Kailee and me and I blushed, looking away. I wasn't particularly good with strangers, especially when they were –rather good-looking- boys.

Lily narrowed her eyes at the messy-haired boy and said, "What do you want, Potter?" The boy put a mock hurt look on his face and said "Am I not allowed to simply drop in for a chat with our new classmates? Surely you've told them about me!" Lily continued to glare before one of the others spoke up, a boy with equally as dark, but considerably longer, hair.

"Come on Evans, you know you missed us! And I want to meet these two lovely ladies!" He gave me and Kailee pointed looks, which only made us blush more. Lily scowled and said, "Don't think that just because you sweet talk them, Sirius, that they're automatically going to want to shag you!" I blanched and gaped at Lily before flicking my eyes to the boy again, who Kailee hadn't actually stopped staring at, and he winked at us. I blushed and looked instead at the other two boys.

One was short, with dirty-blonde hair and watery eyes. He was slightly chubby as well. I was wondering how he'd ended up being friends with the others before I flicked my eyes to the last boy and had to stop myself from gawping at him.

He had light brown hair that fell around his face, half covering his bright blue eyes. He was about the same height as the boy Lily had called Sirius, but seemed a bit skinnier. He had scars on his face –maybe a dog had attacked him when he was young? Wouldn't be the first person I'd met who had been…- which almost reached his neck. Besides this, I couldn't stop myself from thinking. He was, well… Rather cute… In a completely non sex-related way I mean, I'd rather not be thinking about stuff like that after only being with these people for just under an hour.

I then noticed that all four of them, and Lily, Marlene and Emmeline all were in their school robes, but they all also had red and gold ties, and small gold lions on their robes. This intrigued me, as I had always been one to wonder about little things like this, after all, there had been different sporting houses at AIM, maybe this was similar to that?

The entire time I'd been contemplating this, Lily had been arguing with the boy wearing glasses, and when I finally zoned back in, I found the other three boys were staring at me and Kailee, which made me blush more.

"…and if you don't leave us alone RIGHT NOW, I swear to god Potter, I'll bloody well hex you! Ellie and Kailee don't need to have to deal with you lot on their first bloody day!" I looked at her when I heard my name and also felt 'Potter' look at me. He caught my eye, grinned, and then looked back at Lily before saying "SO! Ellie and Kailee!" We both jumped when he leaned over towards us, still grinning, "I would just like to say, as your new Head Boy, welcome to Hogwarts!"

Instantly Lily paled and I looked at her in shock saying to her "Uhh… Lily, are you all rig-" She cut me off, her face instantly changing from white to red in a matter of seconds.

"YOU? YOU'RE HEAD BOY? WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL! WHAT WAS DUMBLEDORE THINKING! MAKING _YOU_ HEAD BOY?" She yelled at him. Instantly he straightened up and looked at Lily in shock, actually taking a step away (I, personally, don't blame him) from her so as to try and avoid her fiery red-haired fury.

Marley and Emmeline however, grinned at him and said "Congrats James, I knew Dumbledore'd pick you!" James(so that was his real name…) grinned back at them and said "Thank you, girls, muchly appreciated!"

Lily huffed loudly and sat down angrily, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring determinedly at a spot on the seat next to me-I had to try hard not to laugh at her actually- refusing to look at James and the others.

James shook his head and sighed before turning to me and Kailee again and said "So girls, hoping to get into Gryffindor with the rest of us?" He winked at us and Kailee merely stared at him blankly, glancing occasionally at Sirius, not answering James' question. I blushed before saying "Uhm… Well… Really, we have no idea what Gryffindor is… So… Uhh… Yeah…"

James clicked his tongue and looked around at Lily saying "You haven't even told them about the houses, Evans!" Lily of course, continued to ignore him, but he turned back to us and announcing rather loudly "Well then! I guess it's my duty as Head Boy (Lily made an angry 'Tch!' noise at this, which James ignored) to inform you of our noble school!" Sirius grinned and said "Come on Prongs, don't keep 'em to yourself!" At this Kailee blushed and James grinned saying "Alrighty then Padfoot, let's all sit and tell them! You don't mind do you, Marlesy, Emma?"

Emmeline nodded and said, "Fine by me!" while Marlene just nodded, still grinning. James grinned and said "Good O'! Right now, girls, Ellie and Kailee wasn't it?" I nodded and said "I'm Ellie Norman, this is Kailee McMillan," James smiled and sat down next to me, while Sirius and the other two made Lily move over. "I'm James Potter," He replied then motioned to the other three each in turn "This is Sirius, Remus and Pete" I smiled at the others, my eyes lingering for a moment on Remus, before turning back to James who began his 'History Lesson'.

"Basically," He started off "There are four houses which we get separated into in first year –don't worry, they'll sort you when we get there- and basically we stay in that house the entire time we're there, and it's also the house that you basically live with-" I interrupted him saying "Do we all have to stay in the same room, or what?" James laughed and said "No there are the common rooms for each of the different houses, and each year in each different house has their own dorm, and the boys and girls are separated, don't worry!" He grinned at me and I sighed in relief. At AIM it was just separated into boys and girls, the only time when we went into the different house groups was for only some of the different subjects.

James then continued, "Now, there are the four different houses, Gryffindor, which we're all in, and we're counting on you two to get in as well! Then there's Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin –trust me, you don't want to end up there!" I frowned at him and said "Why not?" For the first time, Remus spoke.

"Because," He said "Only the really awful 'Pure-blood mania' people end up there. They basically treat everyone else like dirt."

I was rather taken aback. "Oh… Well, we probably wouldn't end up there anyway…" Peter spoke this time, his voice rather squeaky, "Why not?"

I grimaced and Kailee said "We're both Muggle-born, so even if we ended up there in some sort of fluke, well… They probably wouldn't be too happy." Sirius and James laughed before Remus replied in a funnily serious voice "No, they probably wouldn't…" I stared at him for a bit, before turning back to James again. He smiled and said, "Well, ladies, I think that's about all I can teach you today!" Sirius added with a wink "Although if you need anything else, don't be afraid to come and ask!" Remus and Lily both scowled at him as he followed James back out into the corridor, Peter trailing close behind them.

Remus stopped at the doorway before turning around and saying "If you do actually need to ask anything, you'd probably be better off asking me rather than Sirius… Just a safety precaution…" And with that he walked off after them, leaving me blushing again.

Lily seemed to visibly relax and said, "Well, now that _he's_ gone, we should be able to have some peace and quiet…!" I turned to her and smiled before asking Emma and Marlene "Is it just me, or does James seem to have a thing for Lily?"

Lily scowled at me, and the rest of us laughed before Marley said "He's been trying to get her to go out with him since fifth year, and well, he hasn't had much luck…" I grinned at Lily and said "Oh? And why would that be?" She continued to scowl before saying angrily " _Because!_ He's an arrogant, big-headed moron!"

I simply laughed at her and said "Whatever you say, Lil! Whatever you say…" I winked and Lily scowled at me, while the rest of us burst out laughing, rolling around on our seats in hysterical fits.

After we'd all calmed down I thought for a moment before asking "So, I got the impression that James does seem _slightly_ up himself, but what about the other three?" Lily gave me a half thankful look after I half agreed with her about James, before Emma answered my question.

"Well, Sirius is… Well, Sirius… I know it doesn't help but, it's honestly the only way to describe him." I laughed "Remus is pretty mysterious as I'm sure you imagined, always the quieter of the Marauders…" I gave her a confused look and she said, "Oh sorry, that's what they've called themselves, the Marauders, and they all have stupid nicknames too…" Kailee and I laughed before she finished off with, "And Peter basically just tags along with them." I nodded then said "Yeah there were a group of boys similar to that at AIM, but they never actually spoke to us… They were a bit _too_ full of themselves, I think…" Kailee nodded and the others laughed.

Marlene smiled and said, "They're all harmless, really… Although, you might want to watch out for Sirius… He's a bit of a womanizer…" We laughed again and I glanced out the window, getting a face-full of sunlight. I nudged Kailee and said, "Look, it's about lunchtime." I then looked at the others and said, "Is there like a shop or something on the train somewhere?" They laughed and Emma said, "A lady comes along every couple of hours with a trolley full of food, so I'm guessing she'll be coming by here shortly. We nodded and not even 2 minutes later there was a knock on the compartment door.

I stood and opened it and a friendly-faced old lady smiled up at me and said "Would you like anything from the trolley, dearie?" I nodded and shoved my hand in my pocket, pulling out 2 Galleons, 5 Sickles and 3 Knuts. I grabbed multiple things (mostly Drooble's, I have a thing for chewing gum) and paid the lady, before Kailee and Marlene also bought themselves some things.

By the time the door was closed and Marlene had sat down and ripped open a chocolate frog, I was blowing a bubble with some of the chewing gum. It popped after becoming about half the size of my head, and I put it all back in my mouth. I sighed, leaning back into the chair and said "I reckon the biggest bubble I've got with this stuff was about 3 times the size of my head…" Emma and Lily grimaced and said "Ew!" while Marlene and Kailee laughed.

"Yeah she was the best 'Bubble Blower' at AIM, most people thought it was gross though…" Kailee said, adding the last bit with an annoyed look. I laughed and patted her on the back saying "Yeah 'most people' basically sums up to the whole school, counting the teachers, but not Kailee… My friends from my primary schools think I'm rather good at it though!" I winked and Kailee rolled her eyes, while the others just laughed again.

We sat talking for a couple of hours, occasionally getting visited by people who had 'heard rumours' that there were two new seventh years from Australia who had, according to one short-yet rather bold- third year, had brought some kangaroo's that had special magical abilities. Lily of course scowled at them and told them to mind their own business. In the end, there had been a group of second years with their noses pressed against the window in the door, staring at me and Kailee.

Emma sighed and said "Just ignore them, they'll get bored eventually…" We nodded with very serious looks on our faces, and when we all looked at each other, cracked up, making the second years run away from us, because we'd obviously looked like a couple of hyena's that had been drinking too much Butterbeer.

We stopped laughing after a while and I sighed, looking out the window, shocked to see it was now getting dark. I laughed again and said, "Well Kailee, I think we ought to be getting into our new school robes!" Kailee also looked out the window and nodded, standing up and groping for her robes in her trunk (which was actually, considerably tidier than mine…) and I followed suit, pulling them on over my other clothes.

Marlene smirked at us and said, "Oh you look _lovely_ in the Hogwarts robes!" I raised my eyebrow at her and said, "Well, they're a bit plainer than the ones we had to wear at AIM, aren't they Kailee?" Kailee looked down at the plain black of the robes and nodded, grimacing before saying "We had to wear these awful yellow robes, and the skirts were green –Green and Gold see, the National Australian colours…- looked really terrible though, I'm glad we've got these!"

Marlene snickered and said, "It seems as though whoever decided the colours were rather… Unimaginative…" Emma grimaced and said "Either that or they had a terrible sense of style!" I laughed and nodded before saying "Every Australia Day, we HAD to wear the robes, and the skirts, and hats and everything! And considering it was in the middle of summer…" Lily gave us both sympathetic looks before saying "Well, you won't have to worry anymore then, because trust me, we don't ever have to do anything as crazy as that!"

I sighed in relief and we all started laughing again, at which point, we felt the train begin to slow down. My eyes shone with excitement and I glanced at Kailee, seeing her eyes also shining. Lily sighed and said, "Well then, I guess I better go meet up with Mr. Big-Head and do Head stuff…" Marlene smirked and opened her mouth but Lily swung and glared at her saying "Don't you dare, Marlene Jane McKinnon!" Kailee, Emma and me giggled at her and I said "So _that's_ why you chucked a psych at him! Because _you're_ Head Girl! Makes a bit more sense now…"

Lily glared at me and Marlene sniggered saying "We all know Lily is looking forward to sharing the Head Dorm with James!" We laughed and Lily scowled, dragging her trunk and owl cage out, leaving us in the compartment. We kept laughing as we followed her, quickly catching up and when the train came to a complete stop and the doors opened, we were the first out onto the platform.

"Ahh Hogsmeade Station! Good to be back here again!" Marlene said with a content smile, looking around as more people got off the train around us. Lily nodded before walking off, looking for James, leaving us to wait for an empty carriage (Kailee and myself were quite impressed by these, as they were pulling themselves, obviously by some means of powerful magic) and soon we were heading up to the castle.

When we reached the front doors, we walked slowly up the steps and went into the entrance hall (which was huge) and then into the Great Hall, where there were already teachers sitting at a long table which faced four even longer ones, which were slowly filling with students. As Marlene and Emma made their way to the table on the far left, Lily caught up and turned to us saying, "Just come sit with us for now, Dumbledore will announce that you're here and then you'll have to try on the Sorting Hat, it's no big deal really."

Me and Kailee exchanged glances. _We're getting_ ANOUNCED _? In front of the WHOLE SCHOOL?_ I felt my head spinning and saw Kailee had gone rather pale. _Oh god oh god oh god… I think I'm gonna be sick!_ I slumped heavily into the chair next to Kailee and Emma, putting my head in my hands and trying to control my breathing.

It wasn't long until the doors opened and a tall witch wearing moss green robes strode in, a line of Eleven year olds following nervously, some looking as sick as she felt. They stopped near the teachers table and I lifted my head up slightly to see the teacher who had brought the first years in placed a stool and old hat in front of them.

As she began reading out the names and the first years were sorted into their houses, greeted by loud cheers, I sat very still, breathing shallowly and trying not to vomit. I wasn't going to be put in the same house as Kailee, or Lily and everyone else. I knew it. I was gonna get stuck in Hufflefuzz or whatever it was called, all by myself.

I closed my eyes, pressing them into my skull with my palms, trying to compose myself before I had to go up there myself. Soon, the last first year was sent to the table next to theirs and Dumbledore stood. He had a long white beard, with matching hair, and bright red robes, and matching hat, making him look strikingly like a thinner Santa Claus. This made me slightly less sick and I straightened up, my heart pounding as I listened to what he said.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I hope you all do well to learn as much as you can, and I hope you all learn to get along with each other!" At this he shot pointed looks between the Gryffindor table and the table at the other end of the Hall, which I presumed was the Slytherin table. I instantly felt my head throb. What if I _was_ put in Slytherin? What would I do then!

Dumbledore continued with his speech. "Now, before we start our feast and I continue with the rest of my announcements, I would like to greet two other new students, who will join the ranks of our seventh years!" His eyes found Kailee and myself and I felt like I was definitely going to be sick. "Now, these two girls have moved here all the way from Australia (There were several gasps of "Wow, cool!" but I distinctly heard a voice from the Slytherin table say in a scathing voice "Pity they have _Mudbloods_ there too!" Half of my sickness dissipated and was replaced with rage at this) and I expect you all to treat them the same as you would any other of your classmates!" He shot a look at the Slytherin table before looking at me and Kailee again.

"Could you please come up here now, girls?" Kailee stood shakily while I had to be forced up by Emma. I looked towards Dumbledore before shooting worried glances back at my new friends. They all gave me reassuring nods and I even caught Remus smile at me, which made me feel a bit better. I walked up between the tables with Kailee close behind me, ignoring the whispers that carried through the Hall.

When we stood next to the stool, the witch with green robes came toward us and said in a brisk, but not unkind, voice, "Alright now, Miss Norman, Miss McMillan, all you have to do is put on the Sorting Hat and it will place each of you in a house. Good luck." She stepped away and me and Kailee exchanged glances before Kailee stepped forwards, sitting down and carefully placing the hat on her head. When she did, she jumped slightly, and then relaxed. After a few seconds the hat screamed out " _GRYFFINDOR!"_ And she relaxed even more, grinning as she took off the hat, almost running back to Lily and the others before stopping and turning, looking at me.

I smiled and motioned for her to keep going and she smiled back mouthing 'Good luck!' before rushing to the others, who all smiled at her before turning to me. I gulped and sat on the stool, slowly lifting up the hat and putting it on my head.

I jumped, just as Kailee had, when I heard a voice whisper, rather loudly, into my ears. "Oh you're a bit trickier than your friend, yes… Quite loyal, and brave too… Very kind, always good for Hufflepuffs… rather smart too aren't you, though you don't like to admit it… Hmmm… Yes you are very tricky… I silently begged to be put with Kailee and my new friends, crossing my fingers and closing my eyes, biting down on my bottom lip.

The Hat finally seemed to reach its decision. "Well I guess I should give you what you want then, because I know you'd make quite a good _GRYFFINDOR!"_ I jumped when the hat yelled out the last word, and didn't move for a few minutes. I sat, my mouth open in shock, quite astonished that the hat had actually put me with my friends. It wasn't until I heard Sirius yell out "OI! You coming to join us or what?"

I blushed before taking the hat off, running quickly back to the others, my face splitting into a massive grin when I reached them and practically dove into my seat next to Kailee, who hugged me, grinning. Lily, Emma and Marlene were all smiling at me too and I laughed when I heard James say, "Did you get glued to the chair or something, Aussie?" I shot him a grin before I retorted loudly "Hungry are you, Pom?" He grinned back at me and said, "A man can never have to much food!"

It was at this point that Dumbledore stood again and continued with his announcements, including naming the new Head Boy and Girl, when we had to force Lily to stand up. After he'd finished food appeared in front of us and I sighed in relief, instantly reaching for a plate that contained a whole roast chicken surrounded by the usual accompaniment of vegetables. I took half of it and transferred it to my plate, earning a raised eyebrow from Lily which I returned with a "What, I'm hungry!" earning a second eyebrow raise. I rolled my eyes and started eating, almost matching James and Sirius in speed of food-consummation.

After dinner, I barely ate any dessert. That was until I saw a huge caramel tart. I lunged for it with a wild look in my eye and when Sirius tried to take some of it, I gave him a good glare, saying in a deadly voice "Touch it and you'll be sorry!" He raised an eyebrow, smirking, before leaning back in his chair, taking a doughnut from a plate next to him instead.

After I had succeeded in moving the tart from it's original place to in front of me, I grabbed a spoon and hacked a large chunk out of it. It was halfway to my mouth when suddenly it vanished, and reappeared on Sirius's spoon, which he was holding in his left hand, his wand in his right, smirking triumphantly at me.

I shot him the filthiest of looks before getting another spoonful and lifting it to my mouth, only to find it gone and with Sirius seconds later. I scowled at him, refusing to say anything, but the fifth time it happened, I was just about to leap across the table and snap his wand before Remus burst out angrily "For gods sake Padfoot! Stop torturing the poor woman! Jesus!"

We all looked at Remus in surprise, but he was too busy glaring at Sirius to notice. Kailee looked down at my plate, seeing half of my caramel tart gone and snorted before looking up at Sirius saying, "Yeah if you take any more, you'll be murdered in your sleep. Ellie's crazy bout her caramel." James laughed and Sirius smirked again, shooting me a glance that clearly said 'This isn't over yet!' before putting his wand back in his pocket.

I glared at him before turning to Remus, intending to thank him, but he avoided my gaze, and I scowled slightly. I scowled down at the tart for a minute before picking up my spoon again. I was just about to stab another piece out of it when it vanished, along with everything else at the table. I groaned loudly, glaring at Sirius, blaming him for the disappearance of the rest of my delicious snack. He sat smirking, but didn't look at me, instead focusing up at the teacher's table, where Dumbledore was once again, standing up.

"Well I hope you all enjoyed that wonderful feast-" Sirius called out loudly, with an obvious glance at me "Hear hear!" I scowled at him. Dumbledore smiled before continuing, "Now, I hope you all have a good nights sleep and be up bright and early for you lessons tomorrow! Now off you go! Good night!" He waved us off and everyone immediately stood and made their way out of the Hall.

Kailee and I followed closely behind the others as we slowly made our way up staircase after staircase after staircase. By the time we finally reached the end of a corridor with a painting of a large woman wearing flashy pink robes, I was practically crawling, Kailee almost suffocating beside me.

James smirked at us and said, "I thought all you Aussies were sposed to be fit after all that AFL and Cricket?" I scowled at him and said, "Do you honestly think _I_ would play _FOOTBALL?"_ He grinned at me and I rolled my eyes, clutching at a stitch in my side as we walked into the common room, which was decorated with many paintings and Gryffindor banners. I smiled at the feel of homey-warmth that seemed to emanate from the room.

We made our way up to our dorm and I hardly noticed where I was headed -the long walk up the stairs and large quantities of food had completely exhausted me- only barely recognizing my trunk besides one of the 5 beds in the room and collapsing onto said bed, ignoring the fact I was still wearing my robes, and climbing into bed, my eyes already closed. Kailee snorted at me and said, "It's not even late, El! You know what you sleep like, and you're gonna be up EARLY tomorrow morning!"

I moaned a tired "Leamealoonneeee!" which only made her snicker. I was soon asleep and strangely, dreamt of various animals running in between thick trees. There was a wolf and a dog, a stag with a rat clinging to it's antlers, a doe bounding beside it and not far behind streaked a panther, leopard and a fox, an owl gliding silently above them. I was both confused and fascinated by this dream, wondering what on earth it could possibly have meant, but soon was too absorbed in following the animals, as they seemed intent on running away from me.

I woke with a drawn out intake of breath, slowly stretching and blinking open my eyes. I sighed as I looked out the window.

Kailee had been right.

My stupid sleeping patterns persisted.

The sun was only just rising.

Damn.

**So yes, do tell me if you enjoyed this... review, seriously...**

**xx Spotty**


	2. Not the Best of Days

**WOOOOO CHAPTER TWOOOO! XD yeah so, muchly fun, Sirius strikes again with the stealing of my food T_T and then a letter wooooo... then random shite... lol yeah anyway, review, enjoy, love me!**

**xx Spotty**

**-Chapter 2: Not the Best of Days-**

After showering and getting dressed and what not I waited for at least one person to wake up (It had been Lily, funnily enough. She hadn't really struck me as some to wake up particularly early…) I made my way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. When we'd only gone down three sets of stairs I scowled and said to Lily in an angry voice "Why on earth do there have to be _this many_ sets of stairs? It COMPLETELY goes against my life motto!"

Lily snorted before asking "And _which_ 'life motto' would this be?" She gave me a pointed look and I scowled at her before reciting "'Exercise is over-rated'" She glanced at the –extremely serious- look on my face before bursting out laughing. I scowled at her for a bit, before laughing along with her.

I couldn't help it.

I'm crazy. I know.

When we finally got down to the Great Hall, we were still in fits. We made our way over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Lily quickly deposited a few pieces of toast on her plate before dumping eggs and bacon on top of them. I raised my eyebrow at her and she gave me a look.

"What?" She asked in an annoyed voice.

I raised my other eyebrow and looked away saying quietly "Nothing, nothing…" She glared at me before she started eating, while I sat and looked at all the food on the table, trying to decide what to eat.

There were plates upon plates of waffles, pancakes, toast, eggs, bacon and various different types of cereal in their respective boxes, placed next to jugs of milk, along with jugs of juice and there were various other plates of unknown foods.

I sighed as I desperately tried to decide what to take, wondering if I'd look like a pig if I took a bit of everything. Lily stopped eating and looked at me saying in a voice that clearly told she was holding back laughter.

"Not hungry, Ellie?" I turned and scowled at her saying "I don't know what to eat! Why can't you have days for particular things? And for the love of everything _good_ on this god-forsaken planet _WHY_ aren't there any hash browns?" I had noted in my head while searching for a type of cereal I recognized that there seemed to be no Nutri-Grain either, (Or Weet-bix, but I hated that stuff anyway) which I was truly annoyed at.

I was scowling at the plates around me, still searching for any sign of a hash brown and was startled when I heard Lily burst out laughing again. I scowled at her again and said angrily "What?" She snickered and said "Well you see, if we had days for particular foods, most people would only eat certain days of the week, which I'm sure, _isn't_ a good thing. And I'm sure there are some hash browns _somewhere_ in here, why don't you go ask around for some?"

I scowled at her for a bit longer before standing up and scanning each of the tables. I gave a delighted cry when I spotted a plate of hash browns, which were –conveniently- only just further down the Gryffindor table. Lily shook her head at me, laughing as I took off down towards them. I had nearly reached them when suddenly, 4 boys plopped down in the seats around the plate. I stopped dead, scowling, and was about to turn around in complete and utter defeat (I'm not much for confrontations with people I don't know…) when I noticed who exactly the boys were (And, I'm ashamed to admit, I nearly cried out with happiness).

"Ahem!" I said sweetly to James, who was closest to me. He looked around, and grinned when he saw who it was.

"Ah, if it isn't our new friend, the Kangaroo Girl!" I scowled at him briefly before smiling again and saying, "Why hello there, James, how are you this morning? And Sirius, what about you?" I flashed Sirius a challenging look and he grinned at me before they answered at the same time "Good, thanks" and I smiled again before saying in a _very_ fakely sweet voice "If it isn't too much trouble to any of you-" I glanced at Remus and Peter as well, smiling at them all "-I was wondering if I might take that plate of hash browns?" I motioned towards the aforementioned object and they all glanced at it.

I smiled at them sweetly again, the question hovering unanswered in between us, before suddenly, James and Sirius glanced at each other, their faces breaking into identical grins. My smile faltered momentarily but I quickly put it back on my face, hoping they hadn't seen it. The two of them looked back at me, still grinning, when Remus scowled in between them saying, "Please don't tell me-"

Sirius interrupted him saying, " _So_ our new _friend_ (I noted the emphasis on 'friend' with much suspicion… This couldn't be good…) would like to take _our_ hash browns, eh?" James grinned before saying to me "And would we get anything in return, Aussie?" I glared at him for a second, having to hold back from saying something which sounded –in my head- extremely witty –if not inappropriate-.

I cleared my throat and said "That would depend on whether you actually are willing to give them to me in the first place!" I scowled at them briefly before continuing "And anyway, if you won't give them to me, I suppose I could just go and tell Lily how _awful_ you were too when _all I wanted_ was just some hash browns!" I sighed dramatically, giving James a pointed look, which he returned with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius noticed this particular exchange and said "Oh you're _good,_ Aussie… But I'm afraid I actually was planning on eating these, so, if you don't mind, I am rather hungry…" He turned to the plate of hash browns and I glared at him fiercely, opening my mouth to start threatening him, but Remus beat me too it.

"For crying out loud Padfoot! Just give her the fucking hash browns! You don't even _like_ the things! So why bloody bother!" I stared at him in shock, but he was glaring at Sirius, who looked rather affronted.

" _Christ,_ Moony!" He said in a voice that sounded as shocked as I felt "What the hell is up your ass! I was just messing with her! No need to have a go at me!" He stared at his friend for a moment before turning to me saying "Here, take 'em…" I didn't move for a moment, still staring in shock at Remus, before I reached forward and took the plate and heading back towards Lily.

Before I was even a meter away from them, however, I felt a hand grab my arm and swung around, glaring, to find James staring down at me, an extremely serious look on his face. I blushed and said "Ahhh… yes, James?" He cleared his throat before saying "I was just wondering, Ellie(Hmmm he actually called me by my name… interesting…) if you could, perhaps…" He paused, clearing his throat again and going slightly red.

"Uhm… Well… Can you please give this to Lily for me?" I raised my eyebrows and looked down. He was holding out what was obviously a letter, with Lily's name on the front. I looked up at him again, my eyebrow still cocked up questioningly and he nervously swept a hand through his already messy hair. I took the letter off him, nodding, turning away again.

I got back to Lily and put the plate in front of me and the letter in front of her. She frowned at me and I shrugged, grabbing a hash brown and taking a bite out of it, sighing contentedly at the familiar taste. Meanwhile Lily had opened the letter and was reading it. She'd just picked up her glass of pumpkin juice and took a sip, still reading, when she suddenly spat it back out again.

All over my hash browns.

Yeah.

I wasn't impressed.

"What the bloody hell?" I demanded, glaring at her while also trying to save some of the delicious deep-fried goods. Lily still stared blankly at the piece of parchment in front of her, muttering a soft "Sorry…"

I narrowed my eyes. What the hell had that boy written? I'd not even been here for 24 hours and I was already discovering things about people I'd basically just met… What on earth had the world come to? Seriously?

I thought for a second before leaning over slightly and reading what James had written to Lily, which had made _him_ blush and _her_ completely desecrate my hash browns. I was surprised when she actually let me read it too. Well, either that or she was too shocked to notice, I dunno. But this is what I read, either way:

_Lily,_

_Okay, so how do I put this? Man this is harder than I thought… Okay, first things first._

_I'm sorry. Truly I am._

_For being a complete ass, I mean, for the last, you know, six years. I guess it was just… I dunno, some sort of messed up way of trying to say…_

_Oh I dunno… And I'm not really making it easier for myself… Sirius has told me to just tell you, but I can't, I honestly can't. I don't know how you'd react; if you'd hate me even more than what you obviously do, for reasons I can only blame myself for._

_But really, I've never actually hated you. That may seem hard to believe, but it's the truth. It honestly is, no pranks or anything. So now you're wondering why I did those things, if I didn't hate you, right? Well, the truth is… I… Ugh… How do I put this…?_

_God I'm such a prat… Urghh… Okay… Here goes…_

_Okay. Lily. I like you. Like, a lot… Since, basically the day we first met… Hard to believe, right? Yeah I thought so…_

_Okay, so, I probably put that completely wrong, but I said it… And it's done… And hopefully you won't hate me… Well, more… God, so not helping…_

_Okay, so, yeah… I can totally understand if you, you know, never want to speak to me ever again. I can't truthfully say I wouldn't be upset, but I can understand… I was, after all, a complete arse to you for 6 years… But if you can, somehow find yourself up to actually talking to me, and you know, not yelling, then great._

_Awesome. Really. I'd be very happy._

_Okay I'm gonna stop now. And let you do whatever it is you're doing…_

_~James._

I leaned back, rather shocked. So James had been an arse to Lily for _6 years?_ Well, that explained a LOT. Yeah… I mean, I gathered she didn't like him, but really… If I'd known that, I wouldn't have blamed the poor sod. I totally would have been on her side.

So now to try and contemplate what Lily was thinking about all this…

"Uhh… Lily? Are you okay?" I asked softly, trying not to make her have some sort of break down.

She stared down at her plate for a few minutes before looking up at me, her face positively radiating confusion. She sighed and said "I honestly do not know… Really… This is just so… So…" I smiled and finished the sentence for her.

"Unexpected?" She nodded and I continued smiling before saying "Yeah I gathered that, after you, ya know, spat all over my breakfast…" I shot her a small grin, which she half-returned. "Sorry" she said again, "I didn't mean to it's just… James, he… He… Oh, I don't know…" She put her head in her hands and I shot her a sympathetic look, patting her on the back saying "Like I said, it was unexpected…"

"What was unexpected?"

We both looked up in surprise to find that the other three had –finally- decided to come down to breakfast. I smiled at them before answering Marlene's question.

"Lily here just received a letter from a very dear friend, is all…" She narrowed her eyes at me and I smiled. The others sat down next to us and began grabbing things onto their plates.

"Who exactly is this 'dear friend' of yours, Lily?" Emmeline asked before eating some of the waffle she'd put on her plate. I grinned and opened my mouth to answer when Lily cut me off saying loudly, "No-one, doesn't matter, I'll tell you later, maybe, yeah…" I raised my eyebrows at her and she kicked me under the table.

I glared at her, but, getting the message, kept my mouth shut. Kailee wasn't even really paying attention. She was staring towards the group of boys with whom I'd had the… Debate… Over the hash browns with.

Actually, from what I could tell, she was staring right at the particular one with whom I'd been 'debating' with.

"Uhh… Kailee? Why are you staring at Sirius?" I asked curiously. She quickly snapped around, blushing slightly and said "What? NO, I wasn't staring at Sirius! I just… Zoned out! Yeah… Zoned out…" She trailed off, looking down at her pancakes and stabbing at them moodily.

I sighed, rolling my eyes before turning to Emma and Marlene. "So, what subjects are you lot doing?" I asked, trying to figure out which classes we'd have together.

"Well," Emma said "All three of us-" She motioned to herself, Marlene and Lily "Are doing Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts. We also signed up for different subjects, me Arithmancy, Marles is doing Divination, and Lil I think is doing Ancient Runes… What about you two?" She finished, looking at me and Kailee.

I smiled and said "We chose all the same things, but as and extra I picked Muggle Studies and Kailee's doin' Care of Magical Creatures…" I nodded before saying "You lot want to be Auror's too then?" Emma and Marlene grinned nodding, while Lily gave one tiny nod.

I rolled my eyes before looking down at the boys, my eyes passing over Sirius and Peter, stopping briefly on James, before moving on to Remus, where they rested for a while, content to stare for however long they deemed suitable.

It wasn't until Kailee informed me that my elbow was resting in my now mashed up mess of hash browns (which still had traces of pumpkin juice) that I looked away and cleaned up the mess. I ended up eating a piece of toast before we decided to go back up to the dormitory and get our books.

When we walked past the boys at the table, they all stood and followed us. I noticed that Lily stayed as silent as she had been while the others had eaten. I glanced at James to find him staring right at me. I raised my eyebrow at him and shook my head, hoping he'd get that he shouldn't try to talk to Lily… Yet…

When we got back to the Common room, we all walked up to our separate stairs. I lagged back to the bottom of them and waited for James, who stopped and said to me quietly "What happened?" I shrugged and said, "I'll talk to her, okay? After I have, I'll let you know, okay?" He nodded, and we both hurried after our friends up to the dormitories.

About 20 minutes later we were back in the Great Hall, receiving our time tables from the witch who had last night been wearing the dark green robes (They were now a lighter green… How original…) who we found out was called Professor McGonagall. I scanned my new timetable and found that I had Charms first, which meant I might be able to get something out of Lily…

We all headed to Charms (The Marauders as well, I was happy to see) and sat down in small groups at each desk in the back corner of the room (Closest to the front were Marlene, Lily and Emma, then Remus and Peter next to them, behind them myself and Kailee and in the desk next to ours were James and Sirius).

Directly in front of me was Lily. I'd actually sat like that on purpose, easier to give her notes like this.

When a short fuzzy-haired wizard walked in –James said he was called Professor Flitwick- I was still pulling out my Charms textbook and some parchment and quill. I quickly ripped a piece off the bottom of my parchment and scribbled a note, passing it to Lily as inconspicuously as I could.

Lily, so… What exactly made you spit out the pumpkin juice? I mean, I know it was the letter, but still… -EN

_Look Ellie, you haven't exactly been here long, so I'll try and explain it simply… Me and James have hated each other since first year, so when he goes and says that he actually_ LIKES _me, well… -LE_

But… James never actually hated you… He said so…

_That's, well… I dunno if I should believe him…_

What? Why would you not believe him?

Because _he always does stupid pranks like this! Like when he always used to ask me out! That was all obviously some stupid little prank they played on me…_

How do you know?

_Because I just DO okay!_

Alright, alright… So… Are you gonna talk to him?

_What? NO!_

What? WHY!

_Ellie…_

Yes Lily?

_Just drop it, okay?_

No.

_Ugh… Has she always been like this?_

Like what? –KM

_An annoying pain in the butt who doesn't keep her nose out of other peoples business!_

Hey!

Yeah pretty much.

Oi!

What? You are.

That's besides the point Kailee! You're supposed to be on MY side with this!

With what?

With trying to convince Lily here to stop being an ass to James!

_I am NOT being an ass to James!_

You are too!

Oh, yeah that, yeah I'll help!

**_I will too if you like! –MM_ **

_Marles!_

**_What? You need to stop this Lily! I don't know what he wrote to you in that letter, but-_ **

_How do you know it was James who wrote the letter?_

**_Oh, Sirius told me._ **

_Ughhhh… I'm not going to hear the end of this now am I?_

No!

Nup.

**_Definitely not._ **

**_Uhh… You know guys, if you keep passing notes like this, Flitwick's gonna crack it… really bad… -EV_ **

**_AH! So good of you to join us Em!_ **

Yes, truly spiffing timing!

Truly spiffing indeed!

… **_Do I_ want _to know?_**

_No… Probably not…_

I reckon you probably actually would, as it concerns Lily's LOVE LIFE!

**_Ohh, is this about that letter from James?_ **

_How do you all find out these things?_

**_Sirius._ **

_Right, I'm gonna kill him-_

**_Shit! Here comes Flitwick!_ **

Ahh! Quick! Hide the evidence!

Okay! And this isn't over Lily!

After we all got yelled at a bit, we were sitting writing down the work we hadn't been paying attention to. I was halfway through a sentence on the revision of Locomotive charms, when a piece of paper was slid in front of me from my right. I glanced at James, who was sitting writing, but glanced at me, nodding his head slightly.

I sighed and opened the note, praying I wouldn't get caught again.

**So what did she say? –JP**

Not much really… She wasn't particularly happy with me questioning her either… -EN

**Hmmm… So what did she say?**

Mostly just that she thought that it was some sort of prank you were all playing… She's pretty stubborn…

**Urghh… Great… Just wait a sec…**

Kay…

I looked up briefly to see James pass a note to Sirius. I looked back down at my work, trying to concentrate, but now too distracted with thoughts of what James and Sirius could be talking about. So instead I whiled away the time waiting for James to pass another note to me by staring at the back of Remus's head.

I was closely studying the colour of his hair when I felt a piece of parchment poke my arm. I quickly glanced down to find a different handwriting on the parchment.

_ Does Evans seriously think that we're pranking her? _

Sirius?

_ Yes, now answer my question! _

Uhh, yeah, she does…

_ What the fuck! I'm gonna kill her! _

Funny, she said the same thing about you…

_ What? Why? _

Cos you told Emma and Marlene that James had given her a letter…

_ You mean she didn't tell them herself? _

Apparently not…

…

Yeah…

_ I'm going to have a talk with her later… _

Okay, just don't tell her I told you anything.

Sirius snorted when he got my last note, but nodded slightly at me. I sighed and tried to finally finish my work. When the bell rang, I quickly checked my timetable again.

"I have Muggle Studies… Shit… Where do I go?" I bit my lip nervously and Kailee shrugged saying "I dunno, ask Lily. I asked her where Care of Magical Creatures was, and she just said outside… Helpful, no?" I laughed and nodded, turning to Lily and opening my mouth, about to ask her where I would have to go, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I swung round and looked up at Remus. I blushed slightly, biting my lip again. Had he come to ask me why I'd been staring at him? Had he seen? Or had someone else seen, and told him?

"I have Muggle Studies too, if you want me to show you where it is," He said and I blushed even more, nodding slightly. He smiled and said "C'mon, we'll drop some of the others off on the way, we're up on the fourth floor." I smiled at him before asking as we walked out into the corridor, the others not far behind us, "And uhh… What floor are we on at the minute?"

He laughed before replying, "We're on the first floor right now, Arithmancy is up on the second, Runes is on the third, Divination is up on the seventh… And Care of Magical Creatures is down past Hagrid's place." He finished off, looking at me. I frowned and said, "Who's Hagrid?" Remus grinned and said, "He's the gamekeeper. Nice bloke really."

I nodded and looked down at my feet as we began to climb the first set of stairs. I quickly turned around, remembering Kailee would have to go downstairs and called out "See you at lunch, Kailee!" She grinned at me, turning and following a pair of Hufflepuffs who were loudly talking about what kind of creatures they thought they would have to deal with this year.

I turned back around and saw that Remus had stopped to wait for me. I caught up to him and he asked me "Why are you doing Muggle Studies, if you're Muggleborn?" I smiled before saying "I guess I just want to see what wizard's think some of the things I know everything about are used for. My Muggle Studies teacher back at AIM thought televisions were some form of secret way Muggles communicated evil 'take-over-the-world' plans through subliminal messages." I grinned at him and he smiled saying "Well I think that teacher was… Misinformed… Aren't televisions used for watching… Shows and stuff? Like the news?"

I nodded softly and laughed before saying "One time after Christmas in fifth year, I brought in the Walkman I'd got off my mum to show everyone, and Mrs. Hayes nearly broke it, because she thought I was trying to send some sort of sonic radar into peoples minds or something. Was quite funny actually." Remus laughed before saying, "What exactly is a Walkman?"

I sighed and was about to start explaining when I heard Marlene say –rather loudly from behind me-, "Don't you think Ellie and Remus would make the _cutest_ couple?" I blushed and looked over my shoulder, glaring angrily at her, while Emma and Lily were nodding, trying to hold back their laughter. I scowled and faced in front of me again.

We soon left James, Sirius and Emma behind because they all had Arithmancy, and began up the next set of stairs in silence, besides from Marlene and Lily, who now had a whispered conversation, and I could almost feel their eyes burning into my back and, undoubtedly, Remus's too.

By the time we finally got to our Muggle Studies classroom, almost everyone was sitting. I had a hopeless look on my face as I looked around the room of chatting people, recognizing no one. I sighed and followed Remus to a desk at the side of the room, halfway to the back. I blushed and refused to look at him while asking him, "Can I please sit with you Remus? Because I don't really know anyone else and well…"

He nodded, also not looking at me. I sighed and sat down, pulling out my textbook and some parchment. I sat in silence, waiting for the teacher to start the lesson. I was rather humiliated when the teacher, Professor Sands, asked me if there was any interesting 'Muggle technology' in Australia (I decided to briefly explain what an esky was, rather amused when the class had no idea what they were).

Other than that, I sat silently in my seat, not looking at Remus and quietly doing my work, trying my best not to hit his arm. When the bell finally rang for lunch, I threw my stuff into bag and walked out of the room before half the class had even lifted their quills off their parchment.

When I got to lunch, Kailee was already sitting there, wincing every time she moved even slightly. She had a few small cuts on her face, and a bite mark on her hand. I sat and quietly grabbed a sandwich, taking a few small bites before putting it down on my plate.

About five minutes later, Remus sat down across from me, but didn't eat anything. I sighed and glared at my sandwich, trying to put some blame for the fact that I was now not talking to Remus on an inanimate object. It worked rather well, until Remus quickly got up and left without saying anything to anyone.

I stopped glaring and instead put my face in my hands, having to hold back a miserable groan. I was rather happy I had a free period next; maybe I could go check out the library. I heard James and Sirius talking to each other about why Remus would have left, when I too stood up, grabbed my bag, and walked out of the Great Hall.

I heard my name called a few times, but ignored them, and kept walking in what I hoped was the right way to the library. I'd been walking for ten minutes and was just about to give up when I ran straight into someone, falling backwards onto the floor, straight on my arse.

I could have – _would_ have- cried, if I wasn't so determined at that point not to. It wouldn't make anything better. I simply took a deep breath and looked up at the person I'd run into, intending to apologize. I was rather shocked with what I saw really.

It was a Slytherin, a boy, probably in the same year as me, tall and slightly gangly, with shoulder length greasy black hair and a hooked nose. His eyes were black, which I found somewhat disconcerting, but what was worst was the look on his face. I was trying to decide whether it was anger or disgust –probably both by the looks of it- when he spoke, his voice scathing.

"Watch where you're walking, Mudblood, or I might have to ask Filch to ban you from the corridors as well!"

Yeah.

I was rather upset by that.

And I'm sensitive enough as it is (which is why it was rather an achievement that I hadn't cried already).

But I could stop myself.

I started crying.

I tried not to let him see, of course. In fact, I had already stood up and was half-running away by the time it really started. I walked as fast as I could down a few corridors before I actually looked where I was. There was a set of double doors in front of me.

I held back a sob, trying to wipe away some of my tears before I pushed them open to find myself in – _finally!-_ the library. I quickly walked through the rows of shelves before I found an area in the corner that was almost entirely enclosed by shelves. I quickly slumped down onto the ground and started sobbing –as quietly as I could- into my arms, which I had resting on top of my legs.

After a minute or two, I had calmed down slightly, and looked up.

Oh…

Someone else was here, in the corner of the library. Staring at me. Yeah.

It was Remus.

_Great!_ I thought miserably, _Just bloody_ perfect!

I groaned and put my head back on top of my arms, scrunching up my eyes, wishing him away from there.

"Ellie? Are… Are you okay?"

Oh, so now he was going to try and talk to me?

_No, no I'm NOT okay, Remus, thank you very much!_ The words were on the edge of my tongue, just itching to be said, but I held them back. Instead, I shook my head slightly, still keeping my head firmly where it was. I heard him sigh before he got up from where he was and come sit down next to me. I nearly groaned again.

Nearly.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you… But you, kinda weren't talking to me either, so…"

I shook my head again and muttered, "That's not why I'm crying… Mostly…" I could almost hear him frown.

"What happened then? Did someone hurt you? Ellie are you okay?" He demanded quickly, not really giving me a chance to try and explain. I lifted my head up and looked at him saying over the top of him "Remus!" He stared at me, his face showing how concerned he was. "I ran into someone in the corridor, that's all."

He let out a breath of relief before frowning and saying "And that's why you're crying? You ran into someone? Ellie, that's kinda-" I cut him off quickly "Stupid, yes, I know, but it's what they said to me as well…" Remus narrowed his eyes and said, "Who was it? What did they say?" I sighed and said quietly "Some Slytherin, I dunno who, I think he's in our year… He… Well, he called me a Mudblood, and-" I never quite got to finish.

Remus quickly stood up, grabbing me and pulling me up too. I didn't try to stop him, but tried to ask him "Remus? What? Where are we going?" He didn't answer me, but instead pulled me through and out the library, back into the corridor and said, "What did the Slytherin look like?" I narrowed my eyes in confusion but answered him anyway.

"Uhh… Well, he had black hair, and it was really greasy, kinda gross… His eyes are black too… And his nose was like… I dunno, hooked… I dunno… Why?" Remus didn't answer, but let out an angry noise that sounded somewhat like a growl.

After a while, we were in the Gryffindor common room, and Remus had sat me down into one of the chairs by the fire. I looked up at him, still confused and opened my mouth to ask, but he was already walking away towards the boy's staircase. "Stay there!" He called to me. I sat and folded my arms angrily, staring at the fire.

When I heard a loud " _WHAT?"_ come from the boys dormitory followed by a door slamming open and loud footsteps, I turned around, my eyebrow raised, standing up. Sirius and James stormed up to me, Remus behind them, all 3 of them looking murderous, and stood right in front of me. I took a step back before James spoke, his voice filled with the anger that was etched clearly onto his face.

"Did Snape call you a Mudblood? Because if he did, I swear to Merlin I'll go right down into the Slytherin common room and kill the greasy little slime-ball!" I took another step back and said "Snape? What?" I looked at Remus in confusion and he said "That's who called you a… You-know-what…"

"Oh… Y-yeah… He did, but James, don't go to the Slyth-" I was cut of by Sirius who said angrily "You've been here for one day and he calls you a fucking Mudblood! I'll kill the stupid bastard!" At that both he and James started towards the portrait-hole. I quickly sped after them, ducking around and blocking them from getting out.

"No." I said firmly, giving them both a good glare. "It's fine. It doesn't matter. Stay here for crying out loud or you'll get yourselves suspend-"

"Yes it bloody well does matter, Ellie!" Remus this time, coming up to stand in between me and the other two –who each stood back a bit, still looking like they were going to go kill this Snape person- and staring down at me, frowning angrily. "He made you cry, and you're saying it's _fine?"_ He grabbed my arms and said "Look Ellie. You can't just go around calling people 'Mudbloods' and seriously, James and Sirius have hated him forever anyway, so it doesn't matter if they go and do anything to him, nobody will really think much of it anyway."

I glared up at him and said angrily, "Well then _fine_ go get yourselves suspended! Like I care! Like Sirius said, I've only been here a day! What would I know about how you deal with shit like this?" I paused and glared at the other two a bit as well before turning back to Remus who looked rather shocked. "I'm going. So do whatever you like, I really couldn't care less!" With that I stormed off up to the girl's staircase, pausing only to grab my bag from in front of the chair I 'd been forced into.

When I reached the seventh year girls door, I shoved it open, flinging my bag next to my bed before jumping onto it, burying my face into a pillow, but refusing to cry.

What a shitty day.

What a shitty _life._

I think I might move back to Australia… Yeah, that'll work.

**SO! Tell me what you think! ^^ yeah lol, moving back xD**

**xx Spotty**


	3. The Hat

**I'm quite proud of this chapter, cos of some epic happiness in it, though it ends rather sadly... anyway, enjoy!**

**xx Spotty**

** -Chapter 3: The Hat- **

I woke up the next morning with sore eyes. I really wish that didn't happen when you cried… It couldn't be helped though…

I sat in bed for a while, staring up at the top of my four-poster, my eyes itching uncomfortably. I sighed and got up, rolling out of bed and dragging my feet as I walked to the bathroom, grabbing some clothes as I walked by my open trunk. I got dressed as slowly as I could -after attempting to drown myself in the shower- and pulled my hair back into the simple bun I always put it in when I didn't really care.

When I walked back out, Lily was waiting outside the door, and I could hear Emmeline stirring. I walked to my bed and sat on it, idly flicking my fingers as I looked out the window. Soon Marlene was waking up as well and I sighed, wondering what day it was.

"Hey, who can remember what day it is?" I asked nobody in particular. I heard Emma snort and say, "You seriously can't remember what day it is? Christ Ellie, you must've been upset yesterday…" I flinched but said nothing 'til she sighed and continued "It's Wednesday, El…"

I sat, registering that in my brain, before grinning. I jumped off my bed and flounced over to my trunk, bending down and rummaging through it. After a while I let out a loud "AHA!" and straightened up. I grabbed my wand off my bedside table and did a quick smoothing charm on the slightly dented object I was holding.

"Uhh… Ellie, what the hell is that?" I heard Marlene ask and I swung around triumphantly, putting my newly-fixed hat on my head. It was the sort of hat that had the back of it turned up, and had a black band around it. Mine was a beige-cream colour, and was made out of –what looked like straw, but was _really-_ paper.

"This," I started in a loud voice, finally waking Kailee up, "Is my favourite hat!" I nodded, smiling smugly. I heard Kailee laugh and turned to find her looking directly at my hat.

"Keeping up the tradition then, El?" She asked, snickering loudly. I nodded and said, "But of course Kailee! It wouldn't be Wednesday without my hat!" She laughed and got out of bed, joining the queue to get into the bathroom. I flipped my hat around, putting it atop my head, still grinning at the others.

At that point, Lily came out of the bathroom, took one look at me and exclaimed loudly, "What the hell is with the hat?" I raised my eyebrow at her, but Kailee answered. "Since second year, she has worn that very same hat, every Wednesday! Well, except when it was raining, but that hardly counts! The point is, that's her special hat, and it is a special Ellie tradition to wear it Wednesday's!" Lily gave me a look before sighing and walking to her bed, picking up her bag and glancing at her timetable, putting the books she needed for the day into her bag.

I did the same, and we both sat on our beds, waiting for the others to get dressed so we could all go down to breakfast together. As we walked down into the Common room 20 minutes later, there were a few other younger students hanging around, and some of them, third years I think, pointed at my hat, whispering loudly. I rolled my eyes and Kailee said to me, "They'll get used to it, everyone at AIM did!" I nodded, smiling.

When we got down to the Great Hall after what seemed like forever, it was rather packed. I sighed as we moved towards the spot where we sat yesterday morning, which currently had a plate of Hash Browns in the middle. I grinned happily and when I sat down, immediately reached for them, grabbing 2, and a piece of toast, putting a slice of bacon on top of it.

I was halfway through the second of my hash browns when the boys came and sat with us. Sirius sat next to Kailee and James next to him, while Remus and Peter were on the other side of the table, sitting down next to Emma and Marlene. I narrowed my eyes and looked away from Remus, instead looking at Kailee.

I raised my eyebrow in amusement when I saw that she was practically hyperventilating because Sirius was next to her. She actually, kept dropping her food off her fork and back onto her plate. Thankfully, Sirius didn't see any of this. He was staring at Remus, having some sort of silent conversation with him. I narrowed my eyes again, instead turning to talk to Lily, who had completely ignored the boys when they'd turned up (I'd told them all what had happened yesterday, and they had all agreed with me that the boys didn't have to go and hurt Snape, [I'd left out the whole 'Mudblood' part of the story…] Lily most of all)

It was rather awkward from then on, as I completely ignored Remus, and Lily ignored James, while Kailee kept on nearly embarrassing herself. First period was Defence Against the Dark Arts, which was good, because I wouldn't have to face Remus by myself. When we reached the classroom, I sat next to Kailee up the back of the room, Lily and Emmeline sat in front of us, while Marlene had to sit with a Ravenclaw Lily said was named Artie Moon.

I was just pulling out my textbook when a piece of paper landed on my desk. I raised my eyebrow and looked at it for a bit, still pulling out my textbook. After about a minute I'd finally plopped it on my desk and picked up the paper. It was a note, as I suspected, from Remus (I recognized his handwriting after looking at his work in Muggle Studies yesterday because I hadn't really known what to do). I scowled at it for a moment before finally reading then replying.

**Look, I'm sorry about yesterday, okay… Can you please just talk to me? –RL**

You are not sorry, you're just saying it so I'll talk to you! I know you wanted them to go beat him up or whatever… You probably wanted to join them as well! -EN

**I am sorry! And I didn't _want_ them to go beat him up, but he called you a Mudblood!**

So? Plenty of people have called me a Mudblood!

**But you've only been here for 2 days!**

And?

**AND? Well, you just can't do that! It's not right!**

Remus, just drop it, okay. Give me some effing space…

**I will not drop it, and you had plenty of 'space' yesterday!**

Remus. I'm not kidding. Leave. Me. Alone.

**No.**

Why? Why do you care what anyone says about me? You don't know me! You only just met me!

**Because! Well, because… I don't know, okay? I know I only just met you but… It just seems like… I dunno…**

Like what? You feel like you've known me for years or something? Seriously Remus. This isn't some stupid Soapie…

**Well… Yeah… And what's a Soapie?**

Ugh, don't worry… and what do you mean 'Well yeah'?

…

Remus?

What?

Why won't you answer me?

Remus?

I looked around at him, wondering why he'd stopped answering my notes. He was looking the other way, obviously stopping himself from looking at me. I sighed and instead began working, not taking in a word the teacher said or what I wrote down on my parchment.

When the bell rang we all headed down to the dungeons for potions, and I barely paid attention to where exactly we were going. By the time we reached the dungeons, I had almost lost my hat and had tripped down 3 sets of stairs (it would have been 5 but the last 2 James and Sirius had stopped me, without actually saying anything to me, just shooting odd glances at Remus, who I affectively ignored the whole time, even though he was actually the reason for me tripping so much… Quite an achievement.)

I strode into the classroom and sat in-between Kailee and Emma, while Lily and Marlene sat in front of us with a pair of Ravenclaw girls. When the teacher walked in I –almost- laughed at his enormously large moustache. I sat in fits of giggles with Kailee, while Emma rolled her eyes at us. Lily turned around to us and snapped, "Would you pair shut up? Professor Slughorn is my favourite teacher, and you're being overly large gits!" This of course only made us laugh louder and harder, earning us some odd stares.

I know.

We're ridiculously immature.

Although, when Slughorn actually spoke, we finally managed to shut ourselves up.

"Lily, I hope you can get those two lovely new friends of yours to control themselves, they're disrupting the class…"

Lily turned and scowled at us.

How utterly terrifying that woman is.

NOT.

Kailee and myself did manage to keep quiet, but we kept smirking at Lily, who was continuing to turn and scowl at us. While Slughorn was telling us about the affects of the Grimbourne potion (A disgusting vomit-look-alike substance which surprisingly tasted like raspberries and enabled the drinker to walk on air for a limited amount of time) I felt something hit me in the back of the head.

"OW!" I said loudly, swinging around to glare at the ones who threw it. And just guess who it was?

Sirius and James.

_ Hey, why aren't you talking to Moony? -SB _

**Yeah, he really likes you. Like, a lot. -JP**

If you mean Remus then I'm not talking to you ALL because you're insensitive pieces of shit… Hmmm… -EN

_ I AM NOT AN INSENSITIVE PIECE OF SHIT! _

**Yes you are Pads, and what do you mean 'Hmmm'?**

Thank you James, because face it Sirius, you are… And wouldn't you like to know…

_ I am not! _

**Yes I would like to know, so do tell…**

No.

Leave her be boys, she has a right to privacy :D -KM

THANK YOU Kailee!

**Ah, so the other Aussie joins the conversation!**

_ Yes, how very interesting… _

What the…

Oh I don't want to know…

Neither do I…

**So girls, how's life?**

_ Okay now even  _ I _don't know what he's talking about…_

Oh that's just sad, Tampon boy…

**AHAHA good one!**

Hey that's mean… But funny…

_ WTF? TAMPON BOY?  _

Yeah see I figured, since James calls you 'Pads' and all… ^^

**Oh you're good Aussie…**

Yes I am quite aren't I?

Yes yes Ellie we all bask in your hilarity… Now leave him alone, he can't help it if he's a Tampon…

_ YEAH! Wait, what? _

**Uhh guys, I don't know what you're all talking about, but Slughorn's looking at you… He kinda looks mad… Just thought I'd mention… -RL**

_ Ahh! Moony! What a pleasant surprise! _

**Yes, how incredibly SPIFFING that you joined this conversation!**

Oh dear god…

-headdesk-

**Uhhh… Do I _want_ to know?**

No, no you don't…

**Ah but it is truly rapturous for you to be talking to us now, my dear friend!**

_ Yes, we are all simply bursting with joy to be talking to you at this very moment! RIGHT Ellie? _

T_T I hate you SO MUCH right now, Tampon boy…

_ DON'T CALL ME THAT! _

She does have reason to be angry though…

Yes, yes I do, thank you Kailee, you truly are an awesome frien- …Shite Slughorn's coming…

As I quickly tried to gather the notes, the others tried to look harmlessly innocent (Sirius and James were pathetically failing at this, but Kailee and Remus were doing it quite well) but, unfortunately, Slughorn didn't buy it for one second.

Damn.

"Considering you five (So he _didn't_ believe Kailee and Remus's fake innocence… Bugger) don't want to learn about the Grimbourne potion now, you can come back here at 8 O'clock and _make_ it!" He gave us all a beady glare before turning away again. Lily turned and gave us all a highly smug 'I-told-you-so' look before turning back and continuing her work.

This just wasn't my week, eh?

Next to me, Kailee groaned and said, "Great, it's our second day here and we have detention! _And_ we'll be stuck with _James_!" She put her head in her hands and sighed miserably.

"Well, at least you'll get to spend some quality time with Mr. Tampon as well!" I said quietly, so as not to draw the attention of said person. Kailee tilted her head to glare at me and bit out angrily, "Well, you can also have a lovely chat with Remus while we're there!"

I glared at the smug look on her face.

Conniving bitch.

I bet she planned this…

NO!

JAMES AND TAMPON BOY PLANNED THIS!

I knew they were up to something when they started sending me notes!

And they dragged Remus into it too, the poor, unsuspectingly handsome bloke!

Goddamn it I'm going to kill them.

Or myself…

Hmmm, tough choice…

After my trying to think through whether or not kill myself or the other two scheming pieces of shit, I decided to send more notes! (Probably a bad idea considering I've got detention because of sending notes… Meh) I quickly scribbled down two notes and threw them at the two (well, technically three) people they were meant for.

The first was for James and Sirius:

Don't think I don't know what you're doing you sneaky tricking bastards!

The second was for Remus:

I'm really, really, _really_ sorry!

They were each answered with both –obviously- fake and real confusion:

_ I have no idea what she's talking about, do you Prongs? –SB _

**Indeed I don't Padfoot, the girl is obviously delusional. –JP**

**Uhh, okay… Why? –RL**

I sighed before I answered.

Oh you both know EXACTLY what I'm talking about! And don't answer this or else I'll get in even more trouble! (To James and Sirius of course)

Because I got you into detention… -EN

**Oh don't worry about it, it's not like it's my first, especially after spending six years with those pair… -RL**

But I AM worrying about it! It's my fault!

**Well don't, okay? It's not that big of a deal… And why exactly would it be your fault?**

It _is_ a big deal! It's the second day of term! Because James and Sirius were being such arses about it!

**About what? And if they were the ones being arses, then wouldn't it be their fault?**

Nothing, it doesn't matter… And that's actually a good point, it IS their fault…

**If it doesn't matter then why don't you just tell me? And it usually is…**

Alright I'll tell you… After class…

**Okay then…**

I didn't answer the last note, and instead looked at Kailee. I was met with a highly suspicious look.

Damn it why must she be so suspicious?

"I don't know why you're staring at me like that Kailee, but I would advise you to stop before you get in trouble- sorry _more_ trouble" I said haughtily, turning my head away and instead starting to do my work (took me long enough, eh?).

I was just about to start copying out the ingredients for the potion, when I heard Kailee making some odd noises. I turned to look at her with one eyebrow raised and when I saw her face I raised the other.

She was laughing.

_Laughing._

Yeah, I know.

I surround myself with idiots.

Nice idiots, I will admit, but still idiots.

I sighed and said, "Kailee, laughing at me will get you _nowhere_ my strange, deranged friend." She stopped laughing at me and raised her eyebrow before saying "Well then, would you care to tell me about those notes you and Remus were just 'inconspicuously' sending to each other, hm?" I glared at her and turned away.

She snorted at me, civilized girl that she is.

About 5 minutes later the bell rang, and I quickly put my hat back on my head (Yeah I'd had to take it off, something about "You don't need to wear such a thing indoors Miss Norman!" so yeah…). I turned my head to look at Remus and found him staring at me. I blushed slightly and turned to Kailee who said "Come on Els, let's get some food!" I grimaced and said, "Uhh, actually, I have to do something, but I'll catch up!"

She raised her eyebrow but nodded and walked with Lily, Emma and Marlene. I continued to –very slowly- put my stuff back in my bag, glancing over my shoulder at Remus who was making an excuse to the other three boys. When they finally began walking out of the classroom, Sirius and James turned and gave me a look (Sirius also waggled his eyebrows) and I shot them both a glare. James grinned and they left.

I started walking out of the room, Remus right behind me, and as we started walking up the staircase back to the ground floor, he came up beside me and started talking.

"So, what exactly were you pelting each other with notes about?" I looked at him to find him already looking at me. I blushed again and said "Well… They asked why I hadn't been talking to any of you, and I told them why…"

He raised his eyebrow and said, "And why weren't you talking to any of us?" I frowned and said "My exact wording was… Well at the time it seemed reasonable… But now that I think about… I was kinda acting like a bitch…"

He stopped and said "What else did they say?" I stopped and turned to him, biting my lip.

"Uhhh… Well… They said that um… That you… Err…" I paused, still blushing, and looked at my feet before saying quietly, "That… That you liked me…" I blushed even more, refusing to look up at him.

When he didn't answer I peeked up to find him as red as I obviously was. I frowned and said, "What?" He sighed and looked away saying "I'm going to kill them…" I snorted and muttered bitterly, "You're not the only one…" He laughed and looked at me again. When I saw the look on his face, I blushed –even more…- and looked down again.

After a moment I felt his finger push my chin up, so I had to look at him. I bit my lip, knowing that I was probably past the colour of a tomato. He smiled at me and I blushed even more-really? I might as well have gotten a shirt and banner… Psh- I started internally hyperventilating when he leant down, his hand cupping my face, and kissed me on the lips.

It was several moments before I realised that he'd stopped kissing me, and I opened my eyes. Shakily looking up at him. This was a bad idea, as his face was barely an inch from mine. He smiled and whispered to me "They were right though you know." I laughed –perhaps too loudly, I don't know…- and looked down.

We stood there for a few moments, standing practically up against each other, in the middle of the dungeon staircase.

Wow it sounds even more cliché the longer I think about it.

I sighed finally and said, "we should… You know… Lunch…" Remus smiled and said "Yeah…" We turned and I bashfully reached for his hand, relief washing over me when he took mine and squeezed it slightly. We made our way slowly to the Great Hall, trying to start a conversation while we walked across the Viaduct, but it didn't really go anywhere.

When we walked into the Great Hall we were greeted by a great shout of "AHA! I KNEW that's what they were doing! They were so not yelling at each other! That's five sickles you owe me Pads!" I scowled at James as we sat down next to each other amidst our friends, still holding hands. Kailee grinned at me and opened her mouth to say something, but I shot her a look and she closed it again.

"Later…" I said to her quietly.

Much later. Perhaps during our detention.

Wait…

Detention.

I…

I have detention… Tonight… On the second day at my new school.

Crap.

It was then that I decided to have my nervous breakdown.

Smart ain't I?

"Ellie, what's wrong?" Remus, shocked as to why I started hyperventilating and crying at the same time (I would be too, poor kid).

"Oh don't worry," Kailee this time, in a totally cool and unconcerned voice –no idea why, she has detention too!- "I think it's finally sunk in that she has detention."

"It's taken her this long?" James, laughing, Sirius sniggering next to him. "But… But we were talking about how she was sorry I was in detention, why would she only now be upset about her…" Remus, sounding extremely worried (Probably about my mental health… I am too)

"Cos that's just what Ellie's like, Remus, she thinks about other peoples problems before she thinks 'Holy shit, I have problems too!' It's as simple as that." Kailee, ever so helpful explaining my mental disabilities to everyone.

Love that girl.

"Oh…" Remus said "Well then…" He scratched the back of his head in thought then said "Will she get over it?"

Now really, I'm sitting right here!

Okay yes, I'm hyperventilating so it might not seem as if I'm listening… But I am!

Kailee shrugged and said "Depends on how bad it is to her…"

Oh it's bad.

Really, _really_ bad…

"Meep!" I squeaked out, the first real noise I'd made for quite a while.

"From that, I'd say… It's pretty bad… Mmmm…"

State the obvious Kailee. Sheesh.

I glared at her.

"Well she can hear us!" Kailee grinned.

"No shit, Sherlock…" I muttered.

"AH! So she speaks!" Sirius exclaimed as if it were some kind of miracle. Well, maybe it is, but that's besides the point…

"And while we're on the subject of you talking Ellie, _why_ were you and Remus so late for lunch, hm?"

I blushed.

God I hate James. And I don't even know him for crying out loud!

"Oh I see… Yeah Pads, you owe me another five sickles!"

Sirius scowled and said "I wouldn't have to if you would've let me bet on the fact that they weren't fighting…" James grinned and said "I just believed in the fact that I knew better than you!" Sirius raised his eyebrow and said "I was trying to bet the same thing as you, idiot."

Yup. That just supported the fact that I surround myself with idiots.

I managed to finally calm myself down as we walked to Herbology, though I wasn't talking very much.

Lily, Emma, Marlene and Kailee came up beside me and Lily said "So, what did you and Remus do?" I looked at her and saw one of her eyebrows was raised. I frowned and said "I'm not entirely sure…"

And there went the other eyebrow!

"You mean you don't know? But it was only 20 minutes ago! And it was only the two of you!" I glared at Marlene, which made her look away and mutter "Sorry, sorry…" I sighed and said "It's not that I can't remember, it's just… Hard to explain…"

"Well, try to explain at least!" Kailee said, rather loudly I might add. Stupid woman, does she _want_ the whole school to think that I'm some sort of… Slag? (It's what it sounded like to me really. Knowing someone for not 3 days, then kissing them in a deserted stairwell? Yeah… Pretty slaggy to me…)

I glared at her before saying, "Can't you _guess_ what happened?"

"Yeah."

"Yup."

"Course!"

"Not really, no…"

The four different reactions I got from my friends, and let me tell you, I was pretty disappointed in Kailee. I gave her a look and she said "What! What am I supposed to be guessing?"

Really, I could slap her… _Should_ slap her…

You'd think it was the other 3 I'd known for years…

I sighed loudly, shaking my head and said "Lily, you tell her please, I'm… Really tired, all of a sudden…" As if to prove my point, a yawn came along.

I saw Lily nod out of the corner of my eye, and heard her whisper something to Kailee ("Oh!… OHHH! Now I get it!" Seriously woman?) I yawned again, my eyes blurring just as we reached the Greenhouses. I leaned against the cool glass and slid down, resting my head on my knees and closing my eyes.

I was quite oblivious of what was going on around me until-

"For crying out loud! The woman has epilepsy or something!"

I looked up, bleary-eyed to attempt a glare at James.

I'm sure it came out extremely intimidating by the way he burst out laughing.

Hate him. Have I mentioned that yet?

It was then that the teacher turned up, a wispy haired woman with a patched hat atop her head, and dirt smudged on her face. I slowly stood up, with the help of Kailee and Emma and we made our way into the Greenhouse. I barely heard Professor Sprout's instructions to be extremely careful around the plants we were working with today (Venomous Tentacula I think she said) and struggled to keep my eyes open.

"Hey El, you're hat's lopsided," I heard Kailee point out. I moved my hand up to put it back into place, but dropped it back down halfway, too tired to attempt to even do something as simple as that.

I was standing next to Kailee, trying to help hold the pot in place while she weeded around the plant, when I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I looked down in shock as it spread quickly up my arm.

A tendril from the plant was wrapped halfway up my arm, inching further by the second. Even in my zombie-like state I managed to scream before I passed out (Huh, never passed out before in my life… Fun…)

I slowly opened my eyes to find a white ceiling above me. I quickly sat up, thinking desperately. 'Oh crap! They've finally taken me to the asylum, haven't they!' (I've been paranoid about that for years, knowing how incurably psychotic I am) It took me a minute to realise I was simply sitting in the Hospital Wing, as it looked how Lily had described to me and Kailee yesterday.

I sighed with relief and looked down.

I had to stifle a scream.

My arm had a bandage going from just past my fingernails, all the way up to just past my elbow.

Well crap.

How the shit did this happen?

It took me a minute to recall the blurry image of a plant winding it's way up my arm, and an intense stinging. Venomous Tentacula, that's what the plant was called.

It had to be the day I zoned out didn't it?

God effing damn it…

The rest of the day then came back to me in a blur.

Detention tonight, at 8 O'Clock.

Throwing notes at James, Sirius and Remus…

…Kissing Remus in a stairwell…

Well _shit._

Here I was with an effing bandage on my arm, a possible impending doom edging ever closer _and_ I kissed someone. Excellent.

I looked to my left and saw a huge plate of desserts, a note sitting on top of a caramel tart.

I reached over with my good arm and grabbed the note, flipping it over so I could read it:

**Figured you could use with some cheering up so me and the lads nipped down to the kitchen to get you some snacks. –JP**

**P.S Remus says hi.**

I smiled and put the note back, reaching for the caramel tart and taking a bite out of it.

It was then I spotted it.

Another note, atop a pile of ripped up paper. I frowned and put the tart down, reaching for the second note.

Ellie, you're probably gonna be really upset, but we tried but couldn't fix it… We wrote to you're mum asking to buy a new one, but we don't know how long it'll be… Really sorry, I know you loved that hat… -KM

What?

'I know you loved that hat…'

I looked at the ripped up paper again.

No.

The paper was slightly creamy in colour, and had identifiable pieces of black material mixed in with it.

My hat.

I'm going to kill that stupid plant.

**Enjoy? YOU BETTER HAVE! XD anyway, review, please... -sniffle- my poor poor hat! and the next chapter has the detention! huzzah for hyperventilation!**

**xx Spotty**


	4. Detention. And... Some Other Stuff.

**:D Really proud of meself, and this chapter, although what arm arm ends up looking like... ew... :/ anyway, a twist at the end ;D hope you enjoy!**

**xx Spotty**

** -Chapter 4: Detention. And… Some Other Stuff- **

I sighed and leaned back down against the bed, wallowing in self-pity.

Why my hat? WHY?

I sniffled and forced myself not to look at what remained of my beloved hat. It was then that the matron, Madam Pomfrey decided to show up and check on me.

"How's your arm then?" She asked kindly, touching said limb slightly. I shrugged and said, "I'll live, I hope… I think I needed that bit of sleep though… What time is it, Miss?"

Pomfrey frowned slightly and said "It's 7:30, everyone else is at dinner, but I need to reapply the salve on you're arm, hold still for a second, please…" I grimaced as she started carefully undoing the bandage, and looked down at my arm.

I nearly vomited, I swear.

My whole lower arm was a sickly bruise colour, a blend of purple, blue and green, with small red cuts all along it, some with pus seeping out. It was pretty swollen too, about two times as thick as my left arm.

I mean seriously. Ew.

I screwed up my eyes as Madam Pomfrey put the salve on my arm (it was surprisingly, and mercifully cold). It was then I remembered what she said before.

7:30.

Half an hour until my detention.

I'd been asleep (well, in a… recovery coma…) for approximately 6 hours. Yes I needed it, but I only had half an hour to eat then get down to detention!

Screw being fatally injured and Lily's admonishments of Slughorn being a saint, if I didn't get to that detention, I would be dead.

As an effing Dodo.

I sat up quickly as soon as Pomfrey had put fresh bandages on, swinging my legs off the bed. Pomfrey exclaimed haughtily "What do you think you're doing, young lady!"

I tried to stand up but was pushed down, just as I managed to say "Detention… Got to go… Eat…" I looked up at Pomfrey after she pushed me down, pulling the most desperate face I could muster.

She scowled down at me before saying "You have detention?" I nodded solemnly "On the second day of term?" I nodded again, lowering my eyes slightly. Pomfrey sighed and said quietly "I'm going into my office for a break. Your bag is under the bed. Don't strain your arm." I nodded, looking up and smiling gratefully, grabbing my bag and hoisting it over my shoulder, slipping off the bed again.

As Pomfrey walked away to her office, I began towards the doors, then stopped, looking back at the plate of desserts and the shredded remains of my beloved hat. I sighed and went back, pulling out my wand and performing a quick spell on my bag so that the food wouldn't get on any of my books, and shoved the whole plate in, along with the scraps of hat, before sprinting out of the Hospital Wing.

I raced down the steps two at a time, making my way as fast as I could to the Great Hall, hoping I could catch Kailee, James, Sirius and Remus before they went to the detention. I was careful not to use my right arm, clutching it to my chest as I made it into the entrance hall, spotting the other four just as the walked towards the front doors.

"Kailee! Wait up!" I called out. All four of them spun around in surprise. Kailee grinned and said "How's you're arm, Drowsy?" I quickly shot her a glare but then turned to the other three when I heard James and Sirius sputtering loudly.

"B-but… Y-your arm! You could've gotten out of detention if you just stayed put! Are you delusional or something?"

"My arm's fine James, thank you for asking…" I said coldly before interrupting Sirius as he opened his mouth "Can we please just get to the dungeons!" I looked at them all desperately and they nodded.

On the walk towards the dungeon, I began hyperventilating again, clutching my arm tighter across my chest.

When we reached the door of the classroom, my breathing was shallow and extremely fast, similar to my heartbeat. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned slowly to look up at Remus. "Ellie… Breathe…" Was all he said. I tried to do so, just for him, and ever so slightly managed to get my heart rate down.

Hey, it's a start.

There was a jingling of keys and I looked around, seeing Professor Slughorn, accompanied by a slouched, pockmark-faced man with filthy brown robes. His beady eyes glared at the boys, his teeth bared in probably the most intimidating grin I had ever seen.

"Second day of school, I think that's a new record!" Wheezed the man. I pulled a disgusted face and looked at Kailee, who had a similar expression. James and Sirius on the other hand, were grinning. "Lovely to see you too, Mr. Filch!"

Filch narrowed his eyes before saying "Professor Slughorn here was kind enough to let me watch over your detention!" Slughorn smiled and said "Yes, it's rather sad really, because tonight I'd planned a dinner party with a few students, so unfortunately I can't stay! But I'm sure you're in good hands!" He grinned, swelling slightly.

Sirius snorted and James muttered under his breath ('Good hands my arse!') Slughorn continued to grin and said "Well, well must be off, don't keep them in too long Filch!" He laughed and waddled off, chuckling to himself about some un-said joke.

I grimaced and looked at Filch, my arm still pressed against my chest. He scowled around at us and said "Who are these two then? Obviously new troublemaking friends of yours!" This was directed at James and Sirius with a glare.

I let out an annoyed noise, but otherwise stayed quiet, not much up for getting into any more trouble. Kailee and Remus also kept their mouths shut, but the same unfortunately can't be said for James and Sirius.

"I highly doubt that Ellie wants to be here, Filch my man! Although I think Kailee might be proud of herself…" James gave me an amused look before passing onto Kailee, his eyebrows raised questioningly.

Kailee glared at him, blushing slightly. I snorted and looked back to Filch, who was still scowling as he unlocked the door to the dungeon. He opened it and gestured us in. I could almost feel his breath on my neck as he followed us.

"So, can you guess what you'll be doing then?" I looked around the room and frowned. There were stacks of dirty old cauldrons on top of most of the tables. "But… Weren't we going to make that potion…?" I turned to James, who was scowling and said "Let me guess. We have to clean the cauldrons. With or without magic Filchy?"

Filch grinned, his jowls quivering and said "Without I think Potter, give me your wands, now!" Sirius, James and Remus sighed, taking out their wands and passing them to Filch. Kailee slowly followed suit but I continued to frown.

"Hurry up, girl!" Filch snapped, his hand out, ready to take my wand. I flicked my eyes to him and slung my bag around, reaching into it for my wand. I pulled it out slowly and passed it over. Filch smiled and said "I'll be back 10 minutes before curfew, and those cauldrons better be spotless!" He pointed to a bucket of cleaning supplies at the front of the room before turning, chuckling, and left the room.

I left out a noise that was a mixture between a sigh and a sob, dumping my bag onto the nearest table, swearing when some of my desserts fell out. Kailee raised her eyebrows at me before reaching for a chocolate éclair.

I scowled at her, grabbing a custard tart and taking a bite, heading for the front of the room and the bucket of supplies.

"I see you got my present then Ellie!" I turned, carrying the bucket, to see James putting a piece of treacle tart into his mouth. I scowled at him before reaching forward and closing my bag saying to James in an annoyed voice "Yes, and if you can manage to get that much for me, why didn't you bother saving any for yourself!"

James smiled and said "I already ate some, that's why!" I snorted and handed him the bucket saying "I don't know how that man expects us to get these cauldrons spotless!" I reached into the bucket and as if to prove my point, the rag I pulled out was covered in grease, burnt in places, and covered in a layer of filth.

Remus grimaced and nodded, holding up a similar rag. I sighed and said "Well then, best get to work…" I sat down on the nearest chair, reaching for a cauldron, a scrubbing brush in my good hand.

After about an hour of almost complete silence, bar the sound of scrubbing, when I was moving onto my 4th cauldron, I felt someone grab my shoulders. I jumped, even though the touch was soft and looked up in surprise, my brown eyes meeting blue.

"Remus! Shouldn't you be cleaning?" I tried to scowl, but found I couldn't. Remus shrugged, smiling slightly and said "I'm almost done." I raised my eyebrows at him. "With friends like these, you tend to get detention at least once every few days, so I am quite capable of cleaning cauldrons." I smiled and said "Wouldn't be able to help me, would you?"

Remus smiled, leaning down slightly and said "Depends…" I blushed, but tried to keep an impassive face saying "On what, exactly?" Remus smirked and leant down further (and I will admit, I straightened up a bit…). Our lips touched for probably only a second before we were interrupted.

"Oy! You two are sposed to be helping, not procreating!" I jumped, blushing furiously, but had the dignity to glare at Sirius. He and James were grinning though, much to my displeasure. I scowled and said angrily "We were _not_ 'procreating' _thank_ you very much!" Kailee snorted, so I switched my glare to her, raising my eyebrow.

"Sorry, sorry…" She muttered, continuing with her work. I sighed and said to Remus " _Can_ you help me though? Please?" I pulled a hopeful face. He sighed, nodding, and I grinned happily, moving my chair over slightly to make room for him to sit and help. "You know though," He said "I could just teach you my secret of getting them clean faster."

I looked at him inquisitively as he grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling something out.

"Your wand! B-but, we aren't sposed to-" He interrupted me quickly "Shush! James and Sirius don't know!" I raised my eyebrow. "I always make a copy of my wand before coming to a detention, cause Filch always makes us clean _something,_ and I don't fancy doing it by hand."

"And you say James and Sirius don't know?" He shook his head, smiling, turning his head slightly to look at the two, who were currently scrubbing at their cauldrons, slightly red in the face. I smiled slightly and turned back to Remus saying "So, can you please 'help' me clean my cauldrons?" I raised my eyebrow.

Remus sighed dramatically and said "Oh I _suppose_ I could help a bit…" I smiled and he pointed his wand at the cauldrons, there was a dull flash, and suddenly all of the cauldrons were reasonably clean. I smiled and said "You might need to teach me that spell too, I think." He laughed and stood up, moving back towards his table. I pouted and said "I thought you said you were done?"

He laughed and said " _Nearly_ done El…" I sighed, rubbing my swollen arm softly. Remus moved back towards me suddenly, reaching for my arm. I blinked and looked up, letting him grab it softly. I tried not to flinch as even though he was barely touching it, my arm stung. "What were you thinking…?" He asked quietly.

I scowled and muttered "I wasn't capable of thought at that stage, Rem, I was near-dead… And this was _before_ the stupid plant attacked me, by the way…" Remus laughed and said "Rem?" I frowned and said "Why not? Remus seems too… Formal…" He nodded, smiling, and looked directly into my eyes. I blushed, but didn't look away.

"You're different to all the others you know…" He said quietly, so I had to strain my ears to hear him. I blushed and opened my mouth to say something, but her interrupted "A good different El, don't worry…"

Aww, seriously? This man is sweet, really.

I smiled and said "You're not so bad yourself, you know…"

Something odd happened then.

Remus seemed to flinch, and took a few steps back from me, his eyes shadowing.

"Remus?" I said, concerned. What was wrong? Was it what I said?

Remus shook his head and muttered to himself, but I could hear what he said. "What am I doing?"

Wait… What?

"Remus, you okay?" I took a step towards him, concern and confusion masking my face. I was shocked and hurt when he kept backing away from me. He laughed bitterly, shaking his head and said quietly "Don't Ellie, please…"

What? Why?

What the hell was wrong now?

"Oy, Ellie, I think Filch'll be coming back soon, best get back to cleaning, yeah?" I looked around at the sound of Kailee's voice, as if snapping back into reality. I stared at her for a second, nodding my head, before turning and staring at Remus for a bit longer. When I saw he was already going back to the desk he'd been at, I felt my heart drop.

I slumped back to my desk, flopping onto the chair and blinking back tears.

Not five minutes later, Filch came back into the room and inspected the cauldrons. Mine and Remus's were by far the cleanest, and he sent us out before turning to the others, telling then they had to come back tomorrow night to finish cleaning. I moved as fast as I could, wanting to get away from the room.

I went up the stairs as fast as I possibly could, desperately trying to hold back the tears that were now inevitable. I managed to make it to the Gryffindor Common Room before I let out a sob and finally let the tears stream down my face. I sensed rather than saw people look around as I ran past, desperate to just get to my bed.

I pushed open the dormitory door and rushed in, practically leaping for my bed, tossing my bag down onto the ground next to it. I cried out in pain as I accidentally landed on my bad arm, tears of pain now mingling with the original ones. I bit my lip, scrunching up my eyes and taking deep breaths, looking up to see Emma and Marlene staring at me with expressions of mingled shock, concern and confusion.

I sighed.

Nothing in life is ever easy is it?

I woke early, again, and sat in bed, rubbing my eyes, trying to forget yesterday (quite an impossible feat really…). I sat up after a while and looked around. Lily's bed was empty, but the bathroom door was locked, and I could hear the shower running, so she was still here. I sighed, twisting my legs around and putting them slowly onto the floor.

I flinched when my arm twinged angrily, once more cursing that stupid plant. I stood up, walking around to my trunk and pulling out some fresh clothes. Just as I was shutting the lid, Lily came out of the bathroom. I turned around, walking into the bathroom. I saw Lily open her mouth to say something, but quickly shut the door, closing my eyes.

I stood there for a minute before I finally moved again, turning on the shower.

After about 10 minutes, I was dressed and back in the dormitory, ignoring Lily and Emma, who I could tell were trying to get my attention. I grabbed my bag, checked my timetable and shoved the books I would need into my bag before striding out the door and down to the Common Room. I spotted James walking down from the boy's staircase and stopped, staring at him.

He stopped as well when he saw me staring at him. He frowned slightly before sighing and walking over. "Yes, Ellie?" He said.

Seriously? How thick is this man?

"Do you know _why_ Remus acted like he did last night?" I said, refusing to look him straight in the eye when I did. He sighed heavily and said, "It's complicated, Ellie, and I don't really think I should tell you…"

"Why not?" I said, furrowing my brow and biting my lip angrily. James made an exasperated noise and said "Look, just give him some space for a few days. Please." With that he walked away.

I frowned, standing still for a minute, before I spotted someone else coming down the boys staircase, at which point I fled out the portrait hole and went down 3 flights of stairs before I stopped, trying to catch my breath, and holding back tears.

I took a few deep breaths before I continued down the stairs, slower this time. When I reached the Great Hall, the school was more awake, and it took me a few minutes to reach my seat, by which time, Lily, Emma, James and… Someone else, were already sitting and eating. I frowned and sat down next to Lily, grabbing a hash brown from a plate and taking a bite, refusing to look and/or talk to anyone else.

By the time I'd finally managed to finish my hash brown, Kailee, Marlene, Sirius and Remus had joined us. Kailee tried to talk to me, but I ignored her as well (quite exquisitely I might add, of course by now I was starting to feel bad about ignoring everyone, but I wasn't about to stop!).

I spent the rest of the morning in the library, scanning through the different adventure books before the ball rang, at which point I walked slowly to Transfiguration, just making it inside the room as Professor McGonagall started marking the roll. I quickly sat down at the seat Kailee had saved for me and got out my quill, ink and parchment.

It was probably the first class I'd had all week that I really paid attention in. We were going over a simple spell and had to transform a book into a beach ball. BY the end of the lesson, there were blue and white striped balls floating all around the room (Lily's was actually only the size of a tennis ball though, much to the classes amusement).

As we were just about to finish up McGonagall called out "Potter! I want to see you after class please!" I frowned. James hadn't done anything, had he? James was obviously thinking along the same lines as me.

"What? Why? I didn't do anything, I swear! Not yet!" He yelled back, obviously confused. McGonagall raised her eyebrow and said, "I just need to talk to you, and you're not in trouble. Well, not yet at least." James rubbed the back of his neck, not saying anything else.

When the bell rang, I went as slow as I could to pack up my stuff (Hell, I had a free period, I might as well listen to what McGonagall had to say to James) and as I was putting my quill in my bag, heard James start talking to McGonagall.

"So… What was it you wanted, Professor?" I tried not to draw too much attention to myself when she answered. "Yes, James, I was wondering when you were going to hold the Quidditch tryouts for your team…? We don't want Slytherin to win this year…" I looked up to see James visibly relax at the word 'Quidditch', and I was rather intrigued myself.

Even though I've never been particularly interested in sports, whenever I do bother to have a go, I end up doing pretty well. I might even go along to this tryout…

I was snapped back into reality when James said "Yes, I was thinking of holding them this afternoon, if you'd just be able to have a word with Filch about my detention…? Just because tryouts might go for a while, and I don't want to disappoint anyone…" He gave McGonagall a hopeful look and she nodded.

I nearly laughed at his ability to con the almost emotionless woman into getting him out of detention. However, it was with my stifled chuckles that finally drew McGonagall's attention to me.

Damn.

"Miss Norman, I hope you don't have class this period!" She scowled at me and I straightened my face, slinging my bag over my shoulder "No Miss, of course not!" I said innocently, smiling and starting towards the door. "Well then, you can go now too, Potter, and I hope the team this year wins us the cup!"

As I reached the door, James came up next to me and said, "Any reason you hung back then? Or were you moving so slowly because of your arm?" I looked at him impassively and said, "I wanted to know why you were held back, is that so bad?" James laughed and said "So, you going to try out for the team then?" He raised his eyebrow mockingly at me and I scowled before answering.

"Maybe. Why? Don't think I'll be good enough, or are you scared I'll be better than you?" I raised my eyebrow and he laughed saying "Personally I just didn't think you'd be the type to like sports, particularly dangerous ones!" I glared at him before he continued, furrowing his brow "Wait… You aren't doing this on purpose to try and kill yourself are you?"

I scowled and punched him in the arm saying "No I'm not trying to commit suicide James, thank you very much!" He snorted. "I just want to have a go and see if I'll be any good! I actually don't like sports, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm not good at them!"

James looked at me in shock and shook his head, but didn't say anything. That was until… "So, why weren't you talking to anyone this morning?" I scowled and muttered, "Guess…" James chuckled.

I turned and glared at him saying, "Do you think it's funny then?" I stopped, still glaring at him, and folded my arms, flinching slightly when my arm stung. James stopped and sighed, turning around to face me and said "No, I don't think the situation is funny, just how you seem to be taking it… And by the way, don't you think flying with your arm in that condition is a bad idea?"

Uhh… No, I hadn't thought of that actually…

I scowled and looked away saying coldly "I was going to go to the Hospital Wing during my free…" He raised his eyebrow and said "Why're you walking with me then? The Hospital Wing's the other way…" I scowled and turned around, sniffing and said, "Fine then. See you at lunch." I stalked off towards the Hospital Wing, bitter thoughts flashing through my mind.

I walked in and spotted Madam Pomfrey leaning over a Ravenclaw third year who had green spots on his face. She looked up when the door opened and said "Good, I'll be needing to change the bandage and put some more salve on. Sit down." I nodded and sat on the bed next to where she was, waiting patiently for her to get to me.

When she finished with the third year, she went into her office to get the salve for my arm and some clean bandages. The third year looked at me inquisitively and said, "Aren't you one of those new girls from Austria?" I laughed and said "Australia, mate, but yes, I am." He blushed and said, "What happened to your arm?" I looked at him with raised eyebrows, noting that the spots had faded slightly, but were still there.

"Venomous Tentacula…" I muttered. His eyes widened and he said "Wow… Cool!" I laughed and said, "When you see it, you won't be so impressed…" I grimaced and to prove my point, Pomfrey came back and started unwrapping the bandages, revealing my arm to have gone from a mixture of bruised colours, to a sickly yellow-green, pus still coming out of the cuts. It was still swollen, though not quite as much.

I nearly vomited…

The third year, however, found my disgusting injury incredibly amazing, leaning over and saying "Wow, that's so gross!" (What is it with boys? Seriously?) He grinned and looked at me saying, "Do you think you'll live?" I gave him my best 'you fail' face, my eyebrows raised and was about to reply when Pomfrey beat me too it.

"Of course she'll live! She's got me to take care of it, doesn't she! Anyway, you get back into bed Mr. Frost! Those spots won't go away if you get too excited!" She was scowling at the boy, who sighed unhappily and got back into his bed.

Pomfrey made me stay in the wing until the bell had gone for lunch, to 'rest my arm' some more. While I was there, I found out my new little friends name was Riley and that his mate had messed up his Cheering Charm, somehow making it so that whenever Riley smiled too much because of the affects of the spell, burst out into a rash of green spots. I felt sorry for the poor kid.

I made my way down to lunch, happier than I'd been for a while now, and sat down next to Kailee, grabbing a chicken sandwich and saying happily "Hello everyone, I see you're all well!" I smiled around at them, avoiding someone's eyes before taking a bite out of my sandwich. Kailee looked at me as if I were a ghost or something.

"Since when are you talking?" She said incredulously, blinking and abandoning her plate of chicken. I merely raised my eyebrows at her and said "Since I had a lovely chat with my new friend, Riley!" Kailee blinked again, gaping at me, and I could practically feel the shock radiating off the boys.

Oh this was going to be _fun._

I looked around again, still smiling and took another bite out of my sandwich. Kailee stuttered for a bit before getting out "R-Riley? Who's Riley?" I smiled and said "My new friend, silly, didn't you hear me just now!" I gave her a look and she seemed to visibly go 'OH!' and finally smiled saying, "So, where did you meet this friend of yours, El?"

"Oh," I said, "He was in the Hospital Wing when I went to get my bandage changed, and I had nothing better to do!" I grinned at her, also managing to catch Lily's eye, trying to relay what I meant. Her eyes widened and she nodded slightly, turning and telling Emma and Marlene, who both giggled before turning to listen to what I was saying.

"So, Ellie, what's he like?" Lily asked, winking at me. I smiled and answered joyfully "Oh, you know, smart, tall, funny, really nice… I'll introduce you to him sometime, eh?" The four of them nodded, smiling profusely and giggling occasionally.

Have I ever mentioned what great friends I've got?

Yeah, they're pretty brilliant.

I finally turned to talk to James saying, "Madam Pomfrey thinks I should be okay for this arvo, ya know, just in case you were worried!" I smiled at him and he nodded, his eyebrow raised, obviously still trying to figure out what I was talking about just seconds before.

Sirius frowned and said, "This afternoon? What does she mean, James?" Kailee turned to me and said "Yeah I was actually wondering that too…" Emma and Marlene nodded while Lily stared at James, her eyes narrowed. I smiled cheekily at them and said, "I've decided to try out for the Quidditch team!"

Kailee sputtered at me "W-what?" Emma and Marlene gaped while Lily transferred her narrowed eyes to me. I heard someone start choking on his drink to the left of Sirius (Who was staring at James in confusion), but didn't look, instead smiling at James who currently had his head in his hands.

"Oh come on, do you all seriously think I'll be no good?" I scowled at the lot of them and Kailee said quickly, "No! It's just, you've never been interested in stuff like hat before!" Marley was smiling now and said "Awesome! We might be team-mates if James goes easy on ya!" I grinned back, before Sirius said, "You can't be serious…" I turned to glare at him.

"And why not?" I said angrily, my eyes glaring daggers at him. He was just about to reply, when someone else interrupted loudly

"I'll tell you why! You'll bloody get yourself killed!" I turned to switch my glare to Remus, answering him coldly, "Why do you care? You obviously didn't care how I felt last night."

Mean? Yes.

Worth it? Totally.

Remus did a double take, looking away angrily, not answering me. I sort of… Glared triumphantly then, before turning to Kailee, trying to finish my sandwich. She was staring at me with a mixture of pity and pride.

Not sure why entirely, but I was pretty proud of myself too.

After lunch I had double Herbology, and was a lot more careful with the plants we were working with (Even though they were only called Flutterby Bushes). Afterwards I quickly made my way up to the Dormitory to drop off my books and change t-shirts.

I walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Marlene, who said she'd been a chaser on the team for two years. She said she'd lend me her broom, seeing as I didn't have one, and wasn't particularly up for the idea of flying on one of the old school ones.

I decided that I'd try out for Seeker, as it seemed to be the least dangerous position, and had to wait until the very end of tryouts to have my turn. I noticed that Lily, Emma and Kailee were in the stands, watching, probably wondering if I'd actually get in or not. I snorted.

I'd show them.

James, as captain, was automatically able to keep his position as a chaser, and Marlene succeeded in keeping hers. A tall girl named Amanda Binks became the other chaser, and I clapped as she went to stand with James and Marlene, who were now watching people try out for beater.

Sirius automatically seemed to become one of them, hitting a bludger so hard it actually broke through the stands, not too far from where the others were sitting. I laughed, then watched as a short blonde fourth year girl hit the other bludger with matching strength to Sirius, and sent it straight through the middle hoop, before it swung round and flew back.

I walked up to Marlene, who was telling James he had to let the blonde girl, whose name was Sammy Forsyth, be the other beater. James was scowling, but couldn't deny that Sammy was good. I rested my arm on his shoulder (having to reach onto my tipi-toes to do so, of course) and said, "Just let the girl on the team, James, what harm could it do to give a good player a chance, eh?"

I grinned when he scowled at me, but simply took Marlene's broom and went back to stand with the small crowd still left to try out.

A thickset 5th year named Jimmy Rikil became the Keeper, out of 5 different people (the others had all been rubbish, managing only to save 2 shots between them). I sighed. There were two other people trying out for Seeker, both boys.

The first one caught the snitch after searching around for it for nearly 10 minutes, and the second managed to hit his head on one of the goalposts, 15 minutes into his search for the snitch. I furrowed my brow in determination.

I could do way better than that. Not only would I catch the snitch, I'd do it in less than _five_ minutes.

I could so do this.

I looked at James, waiting for his signal before I got onto Marlene's broom, adjusting my weight before kicking off. James gave me a sceptical look before releasing the snitch, waiting five seconds, then nodding to me. I quickly spun round, twisting the broom and narrowing my eyes, searching for the small golden ball.

After a moment, I spotted it. It was zooming around in tight circles, around the left goalpost closest to me. I grinned, leaning forward and rushing towards it. When I got within a metre, the snitch quickly dived down, spiralling towards the ground. I bit my lip, turning down as fast as I dared to follow it. I stretched out my hand when it was about 2 feet away, closing my eyes, feeling the ground rush closer.

I felt the brush of the tiny wings as they tried to get away, but I clamped my hand shut, definitely feeling something in my grasp before I quickly levelled up, stopping and opened my eyes.

I was only inches from the ground, with the very end of the snitches wing caught between my fingers. I let out a deep breath that I hadn't noticed I'd been holding, and grinned, jumping off the broom and racing towards James and Marley, grinning widely.

"Well," I said to a dumbstruck James and beaming Marley, "How did I do?" I continued to grin when James merely mouthed. Marley let out a whoop of delight "53 seconds! 53 SECONDS, ELLIE!" I gaped at her and she said "See James! I told you there were gonna be more girls on the team this year!"

James shook his head in disbelief, and said slowly "I… Guess… You're… On the team… Ellie…" I grinned again, hugging James quickly, giving him the snitch, then handed Marley her broom and started running towards the stands, yelling out to Kailee, Lily and Emma "I'M ON THE TEAM! SEE! I TOLD YOU SO!"

They were running down the stairs and I met them halfway across the pitch, pouncing on Kailee and saying, "I told you! I told you, I told you, I TOLD YOU!" She laughed and pushed me off her saying "I know, I know, congratulations!" She grinned at me and Emma said "I thought you were bloody gonna break your neck when you nearly didn't come out of that dive, you moron!"

Lily nodded and said sternly, even though she was grinning, "Did you not see the ground or something?" I laughed and said "Hehe, _well…_ " They all gaped at me and said at the same time "You didn't!"

I shrugged and said, "Hey, I'm alive, right?" Kailee rolled her eyes while Emma laughed and Lily muttered, "I'm so telling Madam Pomfrey… What was she thinking, allowing you to tryout for Quidditch with your arm all busted up!"

Oh…

Ahehe…

"Ah, Lily?" She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, noticing my guilty look. "I uh, didn't… Ask Madam Pomfrey if I could play Quidditch…" I smiled, hoping she wouldn't care.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Lily gave me the filthiest most horrified look imaginable while Kailee sputtered "What! But you could've seriously hurt you're arm! What the hell were you thinking?" I rubbed the back of my neck, grimacing, when I looked back at Lily.

Her eyes nearly had flames in them, I swear.

Her next words were what scared me the most though.

"You better run, Ellie Norman, or I swear I will kill you, right now." My eyes widened and I quickly spun round, hearing Lily start counting.

I swear, I don't think I've ever run faster in my entire life.

But I wasn't going to let her kill me.

Not after that victory.

**lol, who would've thunk it?**

**me? on the quidditch team? as SEEKER, no less? phew, im as surprised as you no doubt are xD anyway, I know you loved it, cept the whole... Remus thing... 3 guesses as to why he started being an arse, aye?**

**xx Spotty**


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